Sir,
Lately, India seems to be caught in a Catch 22 situation vis a vis its relations with Iran and the US. For the mutual camaraderie that it shares with both of them has now put India into a fix. Any of its bilateral move favouring the one will invite ire of another. This vexatious scene has emerged because of the US withdrewing from the Iran Nuclear Deal followed by it’s CAATSA. This has put India into a ‘Diplomatic Quagmire’, coming out of which might cost it heavily.
On the one hand, India is the second largest buyer of Iranian crude oil, second only to China but on the other the US sanctions on Iran in order to isolate it after it withdrew from the Nuclear deal have put India into a predicament. For India, it’s decision on procuring crude oil from Iran will have a cascading effect on its bilateral relations with both Iran and the US. Also, if it ignores the US concerns, it might invite mirth and sanctions from its most powerful friend. If India caves in to US pressure and cut its imports from Iran, it risks losing a traditional partner as well as access of traditional trade routes through Chabahar and INSTC.
Thus, it is the time when India should tread forward in a way that doesn’t jeopardise its relations with any of its partners. Negotiations should be the cornerstone of our diplomacy and efforts should be madd to secure waivers from US in relation to CAATSA so that our S-400 deal with Russia doesn’t face any hurdle.
Ansh Chowdhari
Roop Nagar Jammu
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel