Monday, Oct 21, 2002
India, Iran wooing Central Asia
By Atul Aneja
MANAMA (BAHRAIN) Oct. 20. After the removal of the Taliban from the political scene in Afghanistan, Iran and India are wooing neighbouring Central Asian nations to build a second line of defence against extremism that could affect their security.
Iran is particularly attempting to cultivate Afghanistan's neighbour Tajikistan apart from trying to build bridges with Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, in order to acquire a larger share of the oil wealth of the Caspian Sea.
Unlike India, Iran has more to worry about the developments in neighbouring Central Asia. This is because the U.S. profile in the region has increased manifold since the unseating of the Taliban regime and the relations between Washington and Teheran are still hostile. The Bagram airbase, which is 40 k.m. from Kabul, has emerged as a major U.S. facility with 5,000 troops apart from Kandahar, where nearly 4,000 U.S. troops are stationed. Kandahar sits on a highway, which extends towards Herat, close to the northern Iranian city of Mashad. The Manas air base in Kyrghyztan, which is also now called the Peter J. Ganci base in honour of the New York firemen who died in the World Trade Center rescue efforts, also stations 1,000 U.S. troops apart from the 1,500 American soldiers located in Khanabad in Uzbekistan. Surrounded by the U.S. armed forces personnel and with the possibility of more U.S. forces landing in Iraq on its Southern borders, Iran is taking major steps to increase its profile in its Central Asian neighbourhood. Iran's President, Mohammad Khatami, visited most Central Asian countries, including Tajikistan, earlier this year. Iran is now seeking to develop a land corridor from its territory to Afghanistan via Tajikistan. Keen on expanding transportation links, a direct flight has been introduced between Teheran and Dushanbe, Tajikistan's capital, supplementing an air-link between Dushanbe and Mashad that had already existed. Iran now plans to build a hydroelectric power station in Tajikistan, apart from opening a cement manufacturing plant.
India, on its part, has three core objectives in Central Asia. First, India wants to acquire a share of Central Asia's huge oil and gas resources. It has already made some headway in this direction during the visit of the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, to Kazakhstan in June this year. India is likely to acquire a stake with Russia as partner in the proven Kazakh oil field of Kurmangazy. A senior Indian official delegation is currently touring Kazakhstan to clinch the deal.
Second, India, after the positioning of a friendly regime in Kabul, wants to deepen its political and economic influence beyond Afghanistan in the region. Mr. Vajpayee is planning a visit to Tajikistan and Kyrghyzstan later this year.
India, diplomatic sources say, wants to build a major software development centre in Central Asia and this effort could begin by building a software facility in Kyrghyzstan. India also wants Central Asia to be part of an expanded trade network, which has Myanmar and Thailand in South East Asia on the one end.
India is already negotiating with Iran and Russia, the construction of a North-South corridor that can be used for sending Indian goods to Central Asia via Iran.
Third, India is keen to balance Chinese influence in the strategically vital region that abuts China, Iran, Russia and Afghanistan. India is quietly negotiating for participation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which is primarily a security grouping that has most Central Asian States.
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