Aerial_View_of_Tehran_26.11.2008_04-35-03 Courtesy: Wikipedia
22 May 2016

Time for Modi to capitalise on Iran

Despite the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action having been in effect since January 2016, the promised business opportunities for Iran seem to have eluded them, as U.S. led economic sanctions still hold firm. With Prime Minister Modi’s upcoming visit in May, there is ample scope to redouble the India-Iran partnership for the strategic interest of both parties.

DSC_0211[1] Courtesy: Gateway House
14 January 2016

U.S.-Iran: overcoming brief setbacks?

Former United States Ambassador Frank Wisner talks to Gateway House about the progress of U.S.-Iran relations in the aftermath of the P5+1 nuclear deal with Iran, including the U.S. response to Iran’s testing of a missile. He also discusses the U.S. perspective on India’s prospective APEC membership.

syriawar Courtesy: Flickr / Foreign and Commonwealth Office
13 January 2016

Ramifications of Saudi mass execution

By executing an influential Shia cleric among 47 other prisoners, Saudi Arabia has increased the possibility of prolonging conflict in West Asia. The country’s actions have stirred up its differences with Iran, thereby diminishing the possibility of finding political solutions to the civil wars in Syria and Yemen.

Geostrategic shifts in West Asia Courtesy:
17 December 2015

Geostrategic shifts in West Asia

As Iran begins to re-integrate with the global economy, the politics in West Asia are bound to be impacted. Will Iran be the new Turkey? Is Turkey going down the path of Pakistan? M.D. Nalapat, director of the School of Geopolitics at Manipal University and Manjeet Kripalani, executive director, Gateway House join our national security fellow, Sameer Patil, to discuss these questions, and more.

Risingpowersinitiative.org Courtesy: Risingpowersinitiative.org
14 December 2015

India’s Iran opportunity

Iran has emerged on to the world stage after 36 years of isolation. India must double up its diplomacy and commercial engagement with Iran, and move boldly beyond the curtain of ‘civilisational’ ties. Time to put that natural advantage to good commercial use through a vigorous private sector engagement with Tehran.

EndISISFlickrDawn Endico Courtesy: Dawn Endico
3 December 2015

Can ISIS be defeated?

Today ISIS is the gravest international security threat. To defeat ISIS, the world should pay heed to India’s experience of the need to isolate state sponsors of terrorism. Ultimately, only when Saudi Arabia acknowledges the danger to its own survival from past policies of alleged support to extremist groups, can it be a reliable partner in the fight against ISIS.

Ansari Rouhani 2013 MEA Flickr Courtesy: MEA Flickr
12 November 2015

Berthing a new era at Chabahar

The strategic and geopolitical importance of Iran’s Chabahar Port is not lost on India. It is for this reason that India is keen to partner with Iran on investing in developing berths at the Port. Although the relationship between the two have had its ups and downs, it is time that with a nuclear deal in place between Iran and the P5+1, India realises that it has much more at stake in its relationship with Tehran.

U.S. Mission / Eric Bridiers Courtesy: Wikipedia
8 October 2015

UNSC and sanctions: a balanced role

The sanctions against Iran impacted the country’s oil, banking, aviation, and other sectors, and had a major humanitarian impact. But neither is armed attack a more suitable method in most instances to address allegedly recalcitrant states. What then is the middle ground? And can the UNSC assume a more proactive role in this context?