Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar visited Tehran recently and met with the President, the Foreign Minister, the Minister of Road and Urban Development, and the Secretary of the Supreme Council for National Security. The visit followed meetings by senior officials from both sides in the last few months, led by the meeting this past August in South Africa, on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, between the Prime Minister of India and the President of Iran. From Tehran, Jaishankar continued to the summit in Uganda of the Non-Aligned Movement, where he emphasized the need to “change the world order,” and on the sidelines met with many foreign ministers, including the Egyptian and Palestinian ministers. These moves by India are part of a longstanding foreign policy, as well as of its growing competition with China, both in Iran and in the “Global South".
In Tehran, Jaishankar discussed investments and development of Chabahar Port in Iran, which is strategically located – east of the Strait of Hormuz and the coast of the Indian Ocean – and the development of the International North-South Transport Corridor, which aims to connect India, through Iran, to Central Asia, Russia, and west to Europe. India has already invested in these two huge projects, and now India and Iran want to continue to advance them. The projects compete with both the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) initiative from India through the Middle East to Europe, which was much talked about before the war and encouraged by the US.
Jaishankar's travels demonstrate that despite the progress in India's relations with the US, and especially in the Indo-Pacific, India is not part of any axis or an alliance system, but sees itself as a distinctly non-aligned country. The war in Gaza was raised repeatedly in Jaishankar's meetings. Along with mentioning the hostages and the fight against terrorism, the Foreign Minister reiterated India's positions on humanitarian matters, and in particular, its commitment to the two-state solution. India's sympathy for Israel under the Modi government (which is not shared by all parties in India) is not self-evident, given India’s needs of in the global context. There, Israel should examine possibilities for leveraging India's ties to promote common interests.
Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar visited Tehran recently and met with the President, the Foreign Minister, the Minister of Road and Urban Development, and the Secretary of the Supreme Council for National Security. The visit followed meetings by senior officials from both sides in the last few months, led by the meeting this past August in South Africa, on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, between the Prime Minister of India and the President of Iran. From Tehran, Jaishankar continued to the summit in Uganda of the Non-Aligned Movement, where he emphasized the need to “change the world order,” and on the sidelines met with many foreign ministers, including the Egyptian and Palestinian ministers. These moves by India are part of a longstanding foreign policy, as well as of its growing competition with China, both in Iran and in the “Global South".
In Tehran, Jaishankar discussed investments and development of Chabahar Port in Iran, which is strategically located – east of the Strait of Hormuz and the coast of the Indian Ocean – and the development of the International North-South Transport Corridor, which aims to connect India, through Iran, to Central Asia, Russia, and west to Europe. India has already invested in these two huge projects, and now India and Iran want to continue to advance them. The projects compete with both the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) initiative from India through the Middle East to Europe, which was much talked about before the war and encouraged by the US.
Jaishankar's travels demonstrate that despite the progress in India's relations with the US, and especially in the Indo-Pacific, India is not part of any axis or an alliance system, but sees itself as a distinctly non-aligned country. The war in Gaza was raised repeatedly in Jaishankar's meetings. Along with mentioning the hostages and the fight against terrorism, the Foreign Minister reiterated India's positions on humanitarian matters, and in particular, its commitment to the two-state solution. India's sympathy for Israel under the Modi government (which is not shared by all parties in India) is not self-evident, given India’s needs of in the global context. There, Israel should examine possibilities for leveraging India's ties to promote common interests.