| Manmohan set for Iran NAM summit with oil, Syria crisis on agenda |
NEW DELHI In a visit laden with immense symbolic significance, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh heads to Iran on August 28 to attend the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit, a trip that is expected to not only reinforce India’s enduring commitment to the movement but also underline New Delhi’s strategic intent to deepen ties with sanctions-hit Teheran.
This will be the first visit by an Indian prime minister to Iran in over a decade since Atal Behari Vajpayee’s trip in 2001.
The visit is primarily for the 120-member NAM summit on August 30 and 31, but the prime minister is also poised to hold a slew of high-profile bilateral meetings on the sidelines. There is a strong possibility of Singh meeting Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, but this crucial meeting would only be finalised a few days before the summit, reliable sources said.
The highlight of the visit will be Singh’s bilateral talks with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The two sides are currently in the process of firming the agenda, but sources indicated that the two leaders are expected to discuss a wide array of bilateral and regional issues.
On the bilateral track, the modus operandi of payments for Iranian oil imports amid tightening western sanctions are sure to figure in the discussions. Despite western pressure, India has continued importing Iranian oil and has cited its importance for India’s energy security, but has cut down its imports from 12 per cent to around 10-11 per cent.
India is also expected to ask Iran to buy more wheat and other commodities to bridge a massive trade deficit, which currently favours Teheran, sources said.
According to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), bilateral trade between India and Iran can touch $30 billion by 2015 from the current $13.7 billion.
Another tricky issue that is set to figure in the talks is about the accusation of Iran’s complicity in an attack on an Israeli diplomat in New Delhi in February. Iran has denied any link but has agreed to a visit by a Delhi Police team to pursue leads in the investigation.
On the strategic plane, the two sides will explore possibilities of working closely on Afghanistan in view of the withdrawal of international combat troops by 2014. India partnered with Iran and Russia to back the Northern Alliance in 2001 that toppled the Taliban regime. Clearly, an ascendant Taliban is a common enemy of both New Delhi and Teheran.
“Given the importance of Afghanistan for India, Iran is a crucial strategic partner as it provides us access through Chabahar into Afghanistan,” PS Haer, a former ambassador of India to Iran, said. Ishrat Aziz, a former diplomat who had key postings in the West Asian region, agreed: “Iran is a gateway to Central Asia and is necessary for maintaining our relations with Afghanistan.”
Above all, the visit will assuage doubts about India’s commitment to nurturing and developing relations with Iran , said Aziz.
Another important issue, and one which the West will be tracking closely, is the kind of discussions the two leaders have on the increasingly complex and intractable Syria issue. Given the urgency of the Syrian crisis, it is sure to figure in the discussions, said Haer. With the bloody stalemate persisting in Syria, India on August 9 sent a mid-level diplomat to a hurriedly convened conference by Tehran, the principal backer of Damascus, to press for what it called an indigenous solution to the Syrian crisis.
Indo-Asian News Service
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