India steams into Afghan border to counter Pakistan

Ditching its long-held worry of feeding into Islamabad’s insecurities by helping Kabul, India will start work on a 500-km-long rail track in the Hajigak region of Afghanistan, giving the country access to the Iranian port of Chabahar, just 72 km west of Pakistan’s Gwadar port that is being built with Chinese help.

Rail tracks from Khaaf in Iran reached zero point at the Afghan border and now the track-laying on Afghan side will begin. “Iran has finished its half. Now the first phase inside Afghan territory to lay 62 km in Ghoriyan district has been launched and will take around four months to complete,” sources said. Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Manpreet Vohra attended the ceremony at the Iran-Afghan border on September 7.

The rail link passing through the mineral rich region of Afghanistan will open a new trade route for India to Central Asia and will reduce Afghanistan’s dependence on Pakistan for trade. The track to Chabahar port will allow exploration of the vast mineral reserves in the region bypassing Pakistan, which has refused New Delhi land access to Kabul. Hajigak, 130 km west of Kabul in Bamiyan province, has iron reserves worth $3 trillion. Twenty-two companies have been shortlisted to mine these, of which  14 are Indian, including a consortium led by Steel Authority of India Limited.

While India has shied away from providing boots on the ground, it has seized the opportunity to provide strategic assistance to Kabul with helicopters and rail tracks to provide sea access to the landlocked country. The network, seen as an answer to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, will be the launchpad for India for greater economic and strategic engagement with oil-rich Central Asia. There are prospects of tie-ups with Iran and Russia to create a network to Central Asia and finally to Europe through the International North-South Transport Corridor.

Pakistan recently rubbed in the influence it wields in Afghanistan’s trade when it closed the Friendship Gate at Chaman Post for over two weeks, crippling Kabul’s exports. Afghan imports through Karachi port declined by more than 40 per cent in February, and Afghan-Indian trade volume could increase four-fold if a trilateral agreement materializes.

Ministry of External Affairs officials have indicated that the three countries have during the 2nd India-Afghanistan-Iran trilateral in Tehran decided to hold meetings between experts on aspects of the project. Recommendations will be discussed in the 3rd Trilateral meeting in Kabul.

Israeli Embassy car blast- India in Catch-22 situation

New Delhi, Feb 15: The explosion in the Israeli Embassy car and the ensuing war of allegations between the two arch enemies – Israel and Iran – has put India in a precarious situation whereby the circumstances might force it to choose between either its key energy supplier or important defence partner.

Israel and Iran – the all time foes, who incidentally share good relations with India – are fighting their war in India’s backyard now. Immediately after the blast that left the wife of an Israeli diplomat critically injured, the country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pointed fingers at Iran for abetting the terrorist strike.

India so far has refused to take the bait and is treading with utmost caution to not to get involved in the crossfire between the two countries. Sources said that India has sought details from Georgia and Bangkok of the recent blasts which Israel feels are interlinked.

India has given Israeli intelligence agency Mossad’s team to come and carry out probe into the blast, however, it has refused to carry out raids at the house of an Iranian diplomat, suspected by Tel Aviv to have been involved in the blast.

The attack has exposed the chinks in India’s security armour against terrorism as the bomb ripped through the car just 500 metres away from the Prime Minister’s residence without the Indian intelligence agencies having a whiff of it. So far the sleuths have been walking down a dark alley in search of clues. The Indian authorities are maintaining that the investigation so far has not unraveled links of any country with the act.

“This is a delicate situation from India’s point of view as it cannot afford to take sides with one country and yet it needs to bring the perpetrators of the terrorist act to book or else it will be seen as a soft ground to fight other countries war,” sources said.

Oil-rich Iran is crucial for meeting India’s growing energy requirements. The Indo-Iran economic ties received a shot in the arm recently after India worked out a mechanism to pay Iran in Rupees for increasing crude oil import. For 2010-11, India’s total trade with Iran was equal to $13.67 billion, which included imports worth $10.92 billion and exports worth $2.74 billion.

On the other hand, Israel has soared to figure in the top three defence exporters to India. In the last four years, the Jerusalem state has supplied crucial weapons and platforms including Air-borne Early Warning and Control System (AWACS) and crucial missile technology in the Long-Range Surface to Air Missiles (LRSAMs).

India’s problem stems from the fact that Iran is yet to recognize Israel as a sovereign state and Tel Aviv in turn has been opposing Tehran’s nuclear programme. In fact speculations are rife that Israel is covertly planning to bomb Iran’s nuclear development sites.

Even as the verbal onslaught is continuing between the two countries, Israeli Ambassador Alon Usphiz met External Affairs Minister SM Krishna on Wednesday evening to discuss the progress in the investigations so far.

Post themeeting Usphiz said : “The meeting was a very good one. It is just another shining example of support, friendship and intimacy that we have been lucky to be exposed to in the last 48 hours since this very saddening vicious terrorist attack on one of our people took place here in the heart of New Delhi.” Both the parties refused to comment on what transpired in the meeting.

Meanwhile, Iran on Wednesday said that it was looking towards India to verify the reality behind the attack.

“We are not accepting or denying this,” Iranian Ambassador to India Mehdi Nabizadeh said in response to allegations levelled by Israel.

Nabizadeh said: “We hope that India verifies the case to know the real position. Till now their final reaction has not come. We hope it will come.”