Rising Instability and Regional Naval Modernisation in East Asia Considering the complementary interests and interdependencies at stake between China and Japan as also their individual aspirations of nation building through peace and stability, a clash over the Senkakus would only result in a ‘lose-lose’ outcome. Kamlesh K. Agnihotri | November 02, 2012 | IDSA Comments
Introduction In the two decades since the end of the Cold War, the Islamic Republic of Iran has emerged as one of the two most debated, contested and commented upon foreign policy issues in India. The other has been the US. The US has remained the pre-eminent global player, following the disintegration and demise of the USSR. Despite its preference for multi-polarity, India, like many other countries, had to recognise the new US-dominated world order and calibrate a policy that was radically different from the one it followed during the Cold War era. P. R. Kumaraswamy | November 2012 | Strategic Analysis
Israel: The Non-Parallel Player Political tensions and rivalry between Iran and Israel have cast a shadow over India's bilateral relations with both these countries. While one offers energy security, the other provides military–security capability towards ensuring greater Indian influence in the Middle East. Conscious of their relative advantages and challenges, India has managed to maintain a fine balance in its relations with Iran and Israel. P. R. Kumaraswamy | November 2012 | Strategic Analysis
Iran: India’s Gateway to Central Asia Most of the discourses on India–Iran relations are either focused on cultural and civilisational links with Iran or its relevance as an energy-rich nation. Its transit potential in providing India with access to Central Asia has not received adequate attention. Meena Singh Roy | November 2012 | Strategic Analysis
The Pakistan Factor in the India–Iran Relationship India's relationship with Iran has been uneven owing to external factors. This article traces the role of the Pakistan factor in this relationship, wherein the religious identity of a fellow Islamic nation, the strategic outlook towards Afghanistan, and energy relations between the three countries are discussed. The article outlines the Pakistani primacy in the India–Iran strategic relationship and showcases how Afghanistan is the glue for India–Iran relations despite the breaks in their continuing relationship. Siddharth Ramana | November 2012 | Strategic Analysis
India–Iran Energy Ties: A Balancing Act This article looks at relations between Iran and India, with a focus on energy, in the past as well as currently. It will examine the state of the energy sector in Iran in light of the US-sponsored sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic and the Iranian threat to close off the Strait of Hormuz to shipping. It will analyse what this portends for Iran's position in the international oil and gas market, and the impact this may have on larger India–Iran relations, given that energy is a core factor in their bilateral ties. Shebonti Ray Dadwal | November 2012 | Strategic Analysis
In Pursuit of a Chimera: Nuclear Imbroglio between Sanctions and Engagement Efforts undertaken to address concerns generated by the Iranian nuclear issue have primarily followed a dual-track approach made up of punitive non-proliferation and economic sanctions at the multi-lateral and unilateral levels and diplomatic-political engagement across the bilateral, tri-lateral and multi-lateral spectrum. These have, however, not been successful in ‘forcing’ cooperation from Iran on core issues of concern, including in such activities as the stopping of uranium enrichment activities. S. Samuel C. Rajiv | November 2012 | Strategic Analysis
American Shadow over India–Iran Relations India's ties with Iran have become an irritant in the India–US relationship. Several scholars have alleged that the US is influencing India's Iran policy. This article examines three cases in which the US is said to have influenced India's position: the Iran–Pakistan–India (IPI) pipeline; India's votes against Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency; and the Reserve Bank of India's guidelines of December 2010, which stopped oil payments to Iran through the Asian Clearing Union. Uma Purushothaman | November 2012 | Strategic Analysis
Necessary Oppositions: Domestic Debates on Iran For the longest part of the two decades since the end of the Cold War, there were mostly Indian perspectives, rather than debates, on Iran and bilateral relations. Domestic debates on Iran began in 2005 and continued until mid-2008, reaching a crescendo during this period and dissipating soon after. The debates, when they took place, were not about influencing the government's Iran policy. Atul Mishra | November 2012 | Strategic Analysis
India’s Iran Policy in the Post-Cold War Period The article proposes to trace India's relations with Iran in the post-Cold War period, to identify the highs and lows in its contours and analyse the current situation. No country, however powerful, can formulate and implement its policy towards another in a total vacuum. India's Iran policy, as well as its foreign policy on the whole, reflects its domestic and external concerns and compulsions. India's need to secure its interests and broaden its options is unexceptionable. Gulshan Dietl | November 2012 | Strategic Analysis
