Litmus test Iran

Watch how India works a balance between its interests in the Middle East, particularly Iran, and its relationship with the US

Recent media reports suggest that India and Pakistan have resolved one of the main stumbling blocks in the proposed 7.4 billion Iran-Pakistan-India natural gas pipeline 8212; they have reached an agreement on transportation charges that would be paid to Pakistan by India. But as Iran continues to insist upon including a clause for price revision every three years, final negotiations still continue. But this recent development signals India8217;s resolve to see the deal through and will certainly cause some disconcertment in Washington.

Ever since the US and India embarked on a journey to transform the global nuclear order by accommodating India in it, Iran has emerged as a litmus test that India has to repeatedly pass to the satisfaction of US policy-makers. India8217;s traditionally close ties with Iran have become a major factor influencing how sections of the US policy-makers evaluate a US-India partnership.

Last year, India was asked to prove its loyalty by lining up behind Washington on the question of Iran8217;s nuclear programme at the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA. The Bush administration stated clearly that if India voted against the US, the Congress would likely not approve the US-India nuclear agreement. India finally voted in February 2006, along with 26 other nations, to refer Iran to the UN Security Council. This was the second time India voted with the West on the issue of the Iranian nuclear programme. Despite this, many members of Congress continued to demand that Washington make the nuclear deal conditional on New Delhi ending all military relations with Tehran. They pointed to a visit by the Iranian naval vessels to the Indian port of Kochi in June 2006 for five days of joint exercises that included training for some 200 Iranian cadets.

Moreover, the US-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act also known as the Hyde Act that was signed by the President Bush in December 2006 contains a 8216;statement of policy8217; section which explicates a few riders ensuring India8217;s support for US policies toward the Iranian nuclear issue, in particular 8216;to dissuade, isolate, and if necessary, sanction and contain Iran for its efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction, including a nuclear weapons capability and the capability to enrich uranium or reprocess nuclear fuel and the means to deliver weapons of mass destruction.8217; This section of the Act generated considerable domestic opposition in India, but President Bush emphasised that this provision is merely 8220;advisory.8221;

Although the Bush administration has expressed its concerns about India-Iran ties, it has refused to make them central to the ongoing negotiations on the nuclear pact. Given the US Congress8217; growing opposition to India-Iran ties and its public expression of their views, the Bush administration8217;s more considered response will, in all likelihood, not be enough to assuage the critics in India.

A few years back, some in the US strategic community suggested that a 8216;Tehran-New Delhi Axis8217; was emerging 8212; and it could be potentially damaging upon US interests in Southwest Asia and the Middle East. While no such axis has ever been in the making, the US should understand that India has a significant interest in maintaining its ties with Iran on an even keel. India8217;s domestic politics as well as its desire for 8216;strategic autonomy8217; also make it highly unlikely that it will simply follow the US on the Iran issue. If Americans are hoping to cultivate another Britain, or even another Australia, India, for sure, is not the right candidate to expend energies on.

However, an unstable Middle East is not in India8217;s interest, and this realisation will bring India closer to the US position on Iran. As of now India seems to be following a carefully balanced twin track policy with regard to Iran. While it has resisted US pressure to curtail its ties with Iran, it also does not want its non-proliferation credentials come under suspicion. With this in mind, India imposed a ban on the export of any material and technology to Iran that could be used in developing nuclear weapons and delivery systems as demanded by the Security Council in December 2006.

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Since the US remains the primary player in the Middle East, India will have to work with it in shaping its foreign policy in the region and with Iran in particular. But the US should resist the temptation to lecture India on its ties with Iran, as this only strengthens the anti-US segments in Indian politics. India is gradually coming to terms with its own growing weight in the international system and it is realising that with power come responsibilities. How India resolves the tensions inherent in its policy toward Iran remains a major test of the nation8217;s growing ambitions as an emerging power in the international system.

The writer teaches at King8217;s College, London. His book, 8216;Contemporary Debates in Indian Foreign Policy8217;,is out this year