GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 14th April. Iran detained an Israeli-linked cargo ship carrying 17 Indians in the Strait of Hormuz, only hours before Iran blasted more than 300 rockets into Iran early on Sunday, April 14.
On Sunday, April 14, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs raised grave concerns about the intensifying confrontations between Iran and Israel. “We take the threat to regional peace and security posed by the escalation of tensions between Israel and Iran very seriously. We demand an immediate end to the violence, the use of caution, a withdrawal from violence, and a return to diplomatic relations. We are keeping a careful eye on how things are developing.
The Indian community in the area is closely in contact with our embassies there, an official report stated.
Thousands of Indian citizens in Iran and Israel may also be in danger of becoming stranded in a conflict zone, in addition to the 17 Indians on that ship. A military reaction within Iran is not ruled out, even though Israel has not yet retaliated to an Iranian attack on its territory.
The war cabinet meeting would be held at 3 p.m. (local time) to deliberate a possible reaction.
Indian involvement in the area
About 10,000 Indians are citizens of Iran, and approximately 18,000 Indians reside in Israel. New Delhi has friendly and warm relations with both Israel and Iran. Although Israel claimed to have destroyed “99 percent” of the missiles fired by Iran inside its borders, it is unknown if Tehran will carry out more strikes inside Israel in retaliation for strikes on Iran’s consulate in Damascus, the capital of Syria, on April 1.
However, with a large diaspora residing throughout the immense industrial-oil complex that drives the region’s economy, including blue-collar workers, a potential spillover of violence into the region might become a serious source of concern for New Delhi.
However, New Delhi’s ties to the area extend far beyond this. The building of Chabahar port, which is only 200 kilometers from the Gwadar port in Pakistan, which is supported by China, has been the main focus of Delhi-Tehran ties in recent years.
When Dr. S. Jaishankar, the minister of external affairs, visited Tehran in January of this year, they agreed to a “long-term cooperation framework” for the Chabahar port.
Furthermore, the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a trade route that passes via Iran to connect Russia and India, has come back into the spotlight as a result of India’s burgeoning commerce with Russia and its strategic interests in Chabahar Port.
Studies have shown that for the trade of goods between India, Russia, Iran, and the countries of central Asia, the INSTC route is more efficient in terms of both time and cost than the Suez Canal route.
Given its reputation as the main economy with the fastest rate of growth in the world, New Delhi’s increasing involvement in the region may be impacted by a conflict between Iran and Israel.
Comments are closed.