An Iranian readout of Abdollahian’s talks with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval said the foreign minister hailed the Indian people and the government for their respect for Prophet Mohammad as well as for their religious tolerance and historical coexistence between various faiths. It said Abdollahian announced that Iran prefers “no limits” for expansion of ties with India.

The Iranian foreign minister, who is on a three-day visit to India, also called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The crisis in Ukraine and the situation in Afghanistan were among the key issues that figured in the talks Abdollahian had with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. On Afghanistan, the two sides reaffirmed the importance of providing immediate humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people and reiterated the need for a representative and inclusive political system in support of a peaceful, secure and stable Afghanistan.

The two sides also signed an agreement on mutual legal assistance in civil and commercial matters. The Iranian readout of Abdollahian’s talks with Doval said the foreign minister raised the issue of the controversy triggered by the comments on Prophet Mohammad. It said the NSA reaffirmed the Indian government’s respect for the founder of Prophet Mohammad, saying offenders will be “dealt with in such a way that others will learn a lesson”.

“Abdollahian hailed the Indian people and government for their respect for the divine faiths, especially the Prophet Mohammad and also for the religious tolerance, historical coexistence and friendship among followers of various religions in the country,” the readout said. It stated the Iranian foreign minister called for attention to the sensitivities of Muslims, adding he said “Muslims are satisfied with the stance of Indian officials in dealing with the culprits.” The BJP on Sunday suspended its national spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled the party’s Delhi unit media head Naveen Jindal for allegedly making derogatory comments.

The Ministry of External Affairs said both sides acknowledged the significance of bilateral cooperation in the field of regional connectivity and reviewed the progress made at the Shahid Beheshti terminal of the Chabahar port. “The sides agreed that the Chabahar port has provided much needed sea-access to landlocked Afghanistan and has also emerged as a commercial transit hub for the region, including for Central Asia,” it said.

“They reaffirmed their commitment to continue to cooperate on the development of Chabahar Port. Teams from both countries will be meeting soon to address operational aspects,” it added. The MEA said the two ministers also discussed international and regional issues, including Afghanistan and reaffirmed the importance of providing immediate humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.

It said they also reiterated the need for a representative and inclusive political system in support of a peaceful, secure and stable Afghanistan. The MEA said Jaishankar appreciated the role of Iran in facilitating India’s medical assistance to Afghanistan, including supply of COVID-19 vaccines to Afghan nationals residing in Iran.

The Iranian statement said Abdollahian described security and military ties between the two countries as “suitable” and pitched for further expansion of the cooperation including to fight terrorism at the bilateral and regional levels and also to help the people of Afghanistan. The talks between Jaishankar and Abdollahian focused on overall bilateral ties.

“Wide ranging discussion with FM @Amirabdolahian of Iran. Reviewed our bilateral cooperation, including in trade, connectivity, health and people to people ties. Exchanged views on global and regional issues including JCPOA, Afghanistan and Ukraine,” Jaishankar tweeted. It is the first visit to India by a senior minister of a member nation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation after the controversial remarks triggered anguish in the Arab World.

Abdollahian’s visit to India came days after Iran joined Kuwait and Qatar in summoning the Indian ambassadors over the remarks against Prophet Mohammad by Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal. Since then, several countries including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Jordan, Bahrain, Maldives, Malaysia, Oman, Iraq and Libya denounced the comments.

The Iran nuclear deal also figured in the talks. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, was finalised in 2015 between Tehran and several world powers including the EU. It was aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The US had withdrawn from the deal in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran. There have been fresh efforts now to restore the deal.

Iran has been a key country for India in the Gulf region. The two sides have been jointly focusing on improving connectivity between South East Asia and Central Asia. At a connectivity conference in Tashkent last July, Jaishankar projected Iran’s Chabahar Port as a key regional transit hub.

Located in the Sistan-Balochistan province on the energy-rich Iran’s southern coast, the Chabahar port is being developed by India, Iran and Afghanistan to boost connectivity and trade ties. India has been in touch with Iran over the developments in Afghanistan following its takeover by the Taliban on August 15.

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The 3rd Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of the Neighbouring Countries of Afghanistan was held Thursday in Tunxi, situated in China’s Anhui province. Foreign ministers or representatives of China, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan took part in the conference. Though India was not invited to the meeting, its initiatives figured in the declaration — ‘The Tunxi Initiative of the Neighbouring Countries of Afghanistan on Supporting Economic Reconstruction in and Practical Cooperation with Afghanistan’ — issued after the conference.

The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project, which has remained dormant for several years, was cited as an important project for reconstruction of Afghanistan under the present interim administration of Taliban. In particular, Turkmenistan will promote the implementation of the construction of the transnational gas pipeline, which is an important aspect of trade and economic cooperation, and which will ensure the development and restoration of the social and economic infrastructure of Afghanistan, the declaration said.

The TAPI pipeline plans to transport natural gas from the Galkynysh Gas Field in Turkmenistan through Afghanistan into Pakistan and then to India. Supplies of wheat to Afghanistan by India through the transit facility of Pakistan also figured in the declaration. “Pakistan is also acting as a channel to facilitate the flow of international humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, including providing a transit facility for Indian wheat to Afghanistan on an exceptional basis for humanitarian purposes,” it said.

The declaration also mentioned the development of the Chabahar port in Iran, though India has not been mentioned. “Iran is developing the port of Chabahar and will continue to develop the infrastructure of Chabahar port and its land and sea transit routes along with road projects such as the Mahiroud-Farah road undertaken by Iran in order to help strengthen the situation and transit position of Afghanistan,” it said.

India is developing the Chabahar port mainly to route supplies to Afghanistan and thereby Central Asian States. For its part, China according to the declaration, besides supplying humanitarian aid, will back its business to investment in tapping the rich mines and oil deposits in Afghanistan. China “supports its enterprises in investing and starting businesses in Afghanistan when the security situation permits, and in resuming projects such as the Aynak copper mine and the Amu Darya oilfield in due course,” it said. “China supports its enterprises to help Afghanistan improve its mobile network, and explore and develop mineral resources,” it said.

Russia too “expresses its support to national and joint Russian-Afghan businesses to start economic and trade activities in Afghanistan”. “Russia supports its companies to develop Afghanistan’s oil and gas fields and realise mined products on mutually agreed conditions,” the declaration said. After the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban in August last year, China and Pakistan have been backing the interim government as they seek to expand their influence in the war-torn country.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi who recently visited Pakistan and Afghanistan called for restarting the China, Afghanistan and Pakistan trilateral cooperation mechanism and advance cooperation in the areas of politics, development and security. Speaking at the meeting of the foreign ministers of China, Afghanistan and Pakistan in Tunxi on Thursday, Wang called for building tripartite political mutual trust, supporting each other’s core concerns and safeguarding common interests.

Besides Wang, the meeting was attended by his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi and acting Foreign Minister of the Afghan Interim Government Amir Khan Muttaqi. Wang suggested that China, Afghanistan and Pakistan enhance anti-terrorism cooperation, eradicate the breeding ground of terrorism and achieve long-term stability in the region, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

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The Third India-Central Asia Dialogue will take place in New Delhi on 18^th-19^th December, 2021. Foreign Ministers of all the five Central Asian states viz Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are visiting India at the invitation of the Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr S Jaishankar to participate in this Dialogue.

It is commendable that the in-person Meeting is taking place in India notwithstanding the raging threat of Omicron, the new variant of corona virus, around the world. That the foreign ministers of the five countries are travelling to India in these uncertain times is testimony to the importance that these countries accord to their relations with India. The National Security Advisors (NSAs) of these countries were in India just over a month ago for the Delhi Regional Security Dialogue convened by India’s NSA Ajit Doval on 10^th November, 2021.

Geo-political significance of these countries is not only due to the huge riches of natural and mineral resources including oil, gas, uranium, iron ore, copper, coal, water etc that these countries possess but also due to the physical connectivity by rail and road as well as through oil and gas pipelines that these countries provide. Their proximity to Afghanistan has also enhanced their role in trying to bring peace and stability to that unstable and volatile country. Three Central Asian countries share borders with Afghanistan viz Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. All the five Central Asian states are at risk of infiltration of terrorist groups as well as drugs from Afghanistan to their countries.

Over the years, the Central Asian countries have become active partners of China through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Trade and economic relations of these countries with China have grown rapidly. Most of the mineral resources like oil, gas, uranium etc from Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan go to China. Antipathy against China in most of these countries has however grown in recent years because of the rapidly growing Chinese footprint in their systems. The incarceration and persecution of several Kyrgyz and Kazakh Muslims along with Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region have given rise to severe disaffection against China and resulted in many anti-Chinese protests in these countries.

Central Asia is a part of India’s extended neighborhood with which it has had strong and vibrant ties through millennia. From the time of the Silk Road in 3^rd century BCE, these connections have been strong and vibrant till as late as the early 1990s when the Soviet Union disintegrated. Historically, deep cultural and civilizational roots bind India with Central Asia. In the present day context, India’s security, trade, economic and physical connectivity, energy security etc. are closely linked to Central Asia.

The biggest obstacle in deepening partnership between India and Central Asia is the absence of common contiguous borders. With Pakistan refusing to provide access to Afghanistan and Central Asia through its territory, India has sought to overcome this impediment by developing connectivity through the Chabahar port in Iran as well as the International North-South Transport Corridor to Central Asia and Russia. India’s accession to the Ashgabat Agreement in 2018 further reinforced this endeavour.

Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the five countries in July, 2015 just after a year of forming a government in New Delhi gave a significant impetus to India’s bilateral ties with the individual countries as well as the region.

India’s membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has provided another forum on which India engages with four out of these five countries who are members of the SCO.

The importance attributed by India to the Region can be assessed by the fact that EAM travelled to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan (3 times) and Uzbekistan during the current year and met his Turkmen counterpart in Kazakhstan on the sidelines of a Regional Ministerial Meeting in October, 2021.

The First Ministerial India-Central Asia Dialogue (India-CAD)

India had launched a Track II Dialogue in 2012 to give an impetus to the India-Central Asia relationship but it had failed to deliver the desired results. Keeping in view the huge unrealized potential of bilateral relations, it was considered appropriate to initiate a Central Asia Dialogue at Ministerial level to give a significant push to bilateral ties.

The first Dialogue in this series was held in January, 2019 in Samarkand, the historical city and cultural capital of Uzbekistan.

Speaking at the launch of this initiative in Samarkand, the then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj termed India and Central Asia (and Afghanistan which was also included in this meeting) as ‘’natural partners’’ with our people sharing ‘’centuries old ties.’’ She expressed India’s keen interest to ‘’build a modern and comprehensive partnership on these strong foundations.’’

A unique feature of this initiative was that in addition to the Foreign Ministers of the five Central Asian countries, the Foreign Minister of Afghanistan was also invited as a Special Invitee. This was extremely significant as the security and stability of India as well as of Central Asia is critically linked to peace and security in Afghanistan.

In the first India-CAD, the then EAM referred to the useful role played by development cooperation in strengthening our ties with other countries. She ‘’offered to extend this partnership to Central Asia as well, where we can bring our countries closer by taking up concrete projects, inter alia, under our Lines of Credit and Buyers’ Credit, and by sharing our expertise.’’

The Second India-CAD

The second meeting of the India-CAD was held virtually on 28^th October, 2020.

To take forward the declaration on development partnership made at the first India-CAD, India offered a ‘’USD 1 billion Line of Credit for priority developmental projects in fields such as connectivity, energy, IT, healthcare, education, agriculture etc.’’ All these are niche areas in which India has proven expertise and capabilities. Central Asian countries ‘’welcomed India’s offer to provide grant assistance for implementation of High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDP) for furthering socio-economic development in the countries of the region.’’

India informed the participating countries about its actions to modernize and upgrade the facilities at Chabahar port to improve connectivity between India and Afghanistan and Central Asia.

The Third India-CAD

The ministers can be expected to focus on enhancing cooperation in strategic, political, security, economic, connectivity, health, cultural, people-to-people connect and other areas in the post-pandemic world.

The only difference between the format of the third Dialogue with the first two, in addition to being the first to be held in India, is that there will be no representative from Afghanistan in this meeting. This is in keeping with India’s decision last month to not invite any representative from Afghanistan for the Delhi Regional Security Dialogue as we have not recognized the Taliban care-taker administration.

The last few months have witnessed a profound transformation in the regional security architecture. The Taliban took control of Kabul on 15th August but even after four months, no country in the region or outside has accorded diplomatic recognition to this dispensation. However, several countries, including from Central Asia, are conducting economic and official engagements with the Taliban setup. Barring Tajikistan, all the Central Asian states are maintaining their embassies in Kabul.

The foreign ministers can be expected to identify steps that the Taliban would need to take before it could formally engage with the international community. These could include putting in place an inclusive government, ensuring that rights of minorities, women, children and girls are safeguarded, not allowing the territory to be used for terrorist operations, stopping the export of drugs, human trafficking etc. The ministers could also affirm their commitment to provide humanitarian food relief and essential medical supplies for the people of Afghanistan and call upon the neighbours to provide free, unhindered and unimpeded access to such supplies.

India is in discussion with the five Central Asian States to invite their Presidents jointly as Chief Guests to the Republic Day celebrations in 2022 to mark 30 years of establishment of diplomatic relations, as was done with the ASEAN leaders in 2018. An announcement could be made after the Meeting if concurrence from all the countries is received.

In addition to participating in the India-Central Asia Dialogue, the Tajik foreign minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin will pay a bilateral visit to India from 18th-20th December, 2021. This visit assumes significance because Tajikistan has emerged as one of the strongest critics of the Taliban regime in Kabul and is the only Central Asian country not to have any interaction with the Taliban.

Conclusion

India enjoys huge good will in Central Asia. It is commendable that the Indian government is pro-active in reaching out to the leadership and people of these countries to engage in programmes and activities to realize the full potential of the bilateral and regional partnership. The India-Central Asia Dialogue is an excellent platform to achieve this objective.

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The Meeting was jointly chaired by Dr. Sanjeev Ranjan, Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Government of India; Dr. Ali Akbar Safaei, Secretary, Deputy Minister and Managing Director, Ports and Maritime Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran; and Mr. Abdossamad Mumenof, Secretary,Ministry of Transportation of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

During the meeting, the Indian side made a presentation on the operations of the Chabahar Port and informed that the Indian company, India Ports Global Limited (IPGL), through its wholly owned subsidiary, India Ports Global Chabahar Free Zone (IPGCFZ), took over the operations of the Chabahar Port w.e.f. 24.12.2018. Since then, it has handled 160 vessels, 14,420 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) and 3.2 million tons of bulk and general cargo. The Shahid Behesti Terminal, Chabahar Port has handled shipments and trans-shipments from various countries including Russia, Brazil, Thailand, Germany, Ukraine, Oman, Romania, Bangladesh, Australia, Kuwait, Uzbekistan and UAE.

The participants underlined the important role played by Chabahar Port during humanitarian crises as well as in enhancing regional connectivity. They also took note of the increase in transit traffic between Central Asia and South Asia through the Shahid Behesti Terminal, Chabahar Port and discussed further development of transportation corridor.

Upon the invitation of the Iranian side, Indian side agreed to send a high level delegation to Chabahar next year. It was decided to hold the third session of the trilateral working group meeting in India at a mutually convenient date.

MEA

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A meeting of the joint group likely to be held under a quadrilateral framework later this year on joint use of the port.

Briefing reporters at the weekly media briefing, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi referred to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s remarks at a recent meeting on connectivity in Tashkent in which he highlighted that India has taken practical steps since 2016 to operationalize the Chabahar port

“You would have seen EAM’s remarks at recently held meeting on connectivity in Tashkent, where he highlighted that India has taken practical steps since 2016 to operationalize the Chabahar port and that its efficacy is now clearly proven. India has proposed to include the port in the framework of International North-South Transport Corridor and has welcomed the formation of India-Uzbekistan-Iran-Afghanistan Quadrilateral Working Group on the joint use of Chabahar port,” the spokesperson said.

“The meeting is likely to take place in the later half of this year,” he added.

Bagchi said that since December 2018, Chabahar port has handled 134 vessels, 14258 TEUs of containers and more than 2.08 million metric tons of bulk and general cargo.

Jaishankar had in March this year proposed the inclusion of Chabahar Port in Iran in the INSTC and invited Uzbekistan and Afghanistan to join the multi-lateral corridor project.

INSTC is a trade corridor project in which India is partnering with several other countries.

INSTC is a 7200-kilometer ship, rail, and road route for moving freight between India, Russia, Iran, Europe and Central Asia. The members INSTC project are India, Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine, and Bulgaria (observer).

Jaishankar had said that the move reflects India’s strong commitment to work together with all regional stakeholders to enhance connectivity “in our region and to provide unhindered access to the sea, to land-locked Central Asian countries through Chabahar Port”.

India started interacting with Iran on Chabahar Port around 2003 but a major push was received in the second half of 2014, resulting in the signing of an MoU between the two countries for the development of the port in May 2015. This MoU translated into a formal 10-year contract for equipping and operating the Chabahar Port, which was executed in May 2016. (ANI)

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