India + Iran = a foundation for stability

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India + Iran = a foundation for stability

Realignment

By Stanley A. Weiss (IHT)

Thursday, February 6, 2003

"Both India and Iran fear the Saudi-sponsored puritanical Wahhabi

brand of Sunni Islam. When Afghanistan was controlled by the Sunni-

dominated Taliban, Iran and India backed the Northern Alliance."

 

NEW DELHI: Has the foundation been laid for a stable Middle East and

Asia for decades to come? That may well be what happened when India

and Iran unveiled a strategic partnership during President Mohammed

Khatami's recent visit here. On the economic side, the two countries

need each other. Iran has the world's second largest natural gas

reserves. India is one of the world's largest gas importers and

values Iran's strategic location as a gateway to Middle East and

Central Asian energy suppliers.

 

On the military side, both fear that Islamic fundamentalists might

seize Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. India will get access to Iranian

military bases in the event of war with Pakistan. Iran will get

access to advanced Indian military technology. President George W.

Bush calls Iran part of an "axis of evil." An anonymous U.S. official

warns that the New Delhi-Tehran alliance could "raise obstacles in

our burgeoning defense ties" with India. But Bush should not allow

his loathing for Tehran's reactionary mullahs to trump America's need

for India or the need to embrace what he calls "the Iranian people's

hope for freedom."

 

He should recognize that India and Iran are the key to regional

stability, and join New Delhi and Tehran in an axis of friendship.

 

Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani tells me that the United States and

India are "the twin towers of democracy." Indeed, India has become a

major regional power with the ability to advance American interests

from Israel to Iran to Indonesia.

 

Want to promote a peaceful Asia? Then partner with India, a reliable

U.S. ally in dealing with North Korea, a growing naval presence in

Southeast Asia and a leading candidate for a permanent seat on the

Security Council.

 

And although the dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir attracts global

headlines, the primary long-term security concern here is a

militarily and economically ascendant China, which occupies a chunk

of Indian territory.

 

Want to show the world's 1.2 billion Muslims a progressive, hopeful

alternative to the medieval vision of Osama bin Laden? Then support

secular India, a multi-religious society home to the world's second

largest Muslim population. India's 150 million Muslims, including the

world's largest community of Shiites outside Iran, instinctively

recoil from Sunni-dominated Al Qaeda.

 

Want to simultaneously dampen Pakistan and Iran's support for

terrorism? Then give these nations a stake in regional peace and

prosperity, like billions in revenue and transit fees from the so-

called "peace pipeline" that would connect Iran and India through

Afghanistan and Pakistan.

 

Indian access to Iranian bases encircles and contains Pakistan,

fundamentally altering Islamabad's strategic calculations.

 

India's new ties with Iran make it more, not less, valuable to

Washington. Both India and Iran fear the Saudi-sponsored puritanical

Wahhabi brand of Sunni Islam. When Afghanistan was controlled by the

Sunni-dominated Taliban, Iran and India backed the Northern Alliance.

Both countries have played a vital role in creating and sustaining

the U.S.-$ backed government in Kabul. In the reconstruction effort,

New Delhi and Tehran will build a much needed road connecting the

Iranian port of Chabahar to the Afghan city of Kandahar. As in

Afghanistan, the United States will need Iran to help stabilize a

post-Saddam Iraq. Encouraging signs include Tehran's warm welcome to

a recent gathering of Iraqi opposition leaders.

 

New Delhi will also be an increasing asset to Washington thanks to

its military partnership with Israel. It is easy to see why Shimon

Peres calls India "Israel's best friend in the region." Both are

secular multi-religious democracies under terrorist attack from

Islamic militants. Both are nuclear powers surrounded by hostile

neighbors with ballistic missiles.

 

Bilateral trade has soared, and young Israelis flock to Indian

beaches. Israel is poised to become India's largest arms supplier,

and India desperately wants Washington's approval to buy the U.S.-

Israeli-built Arrow missile defense system. Like its new economic and

military partnership with Turkey, Jerusalem's growing ties with India

give America's closest ally in the Middle East an important friend in

a tough neighborhood.

 

Taken together, this web of cooperation portends a historic

realignment in the regional balance of power - an alliance of

democracies, with India at its center. America should forge its own

strategic partnership with India.

 

The writer is chairman of Business Executives for National Security,

a Washington-based, nonpartisan organization of business leaders. The

views expressed here are personal.