India seems to be in a delicate situation, caught between two friends, following the alleged Iranian hand behind the attack on the Israeli diplomat vehicle in the heart of New Delhi.
While Iran is a massive supplier of crude oil to India, Israel has a very close relationship with New Delhi in terms of defence cooperation.
Following the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu squarely blamed Tehran for the terror attack on a woman Israeli diplomat on Monday afternoon, that critically injured her.
The blast site in New Delhi. AP
New Delhi was already facing challenges while importing crude from Iran owing to payment related problems that surfaced due to sanctions by the Barack Obama administration on the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad regime’s nuclear ambitions.
“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,” a Times of India report said today.
Adding to the complications, Iran which has till date not recognised Israel as a sovereign state, has serious differences with Jerusalem on its nuclear programme.
Lately there have been several news reports that Israel might attack Iran’s nuclear facilities and that it was responsible for the elimination of a key nuclear scientist of the alienated Islamic regime.
This enmity is old but the problem for India is that if Israel’s current allegations are true, then the Israel-Iran fight has just spilled over to a neutral country.
The blast in New Delhi today cannot be seen in isolation of the current geo-political crisis in the Middle East. The blast might have far-reaching ramifications for India’s energy and defence needs.
Israelis were victims in the 2008 terror attacks on a Jewish centre in Mumbai. However, in that attack by Pakistani terrorists the Iranian angle was not there.
Ironically, India and Iran agreed upon a rupee mechanism on Monday to pay for the increasing oil imports by New Delhi.
While India cannot afford to stop importing oil from Iran which is relatively cheaper, it cannot manage to antagonise Israel as well. India needs Israeli weapons and military expertise both for external and internal security.
Starting from AWACS, India bought Thermal Imaging Stand Alone Systems and Long-Range Reconnaissance and Observation Systems for its armed forces. Missiles like Barack and Spike are also part of Indian military weaponry.
The India-Israel defence trade that runs into billions of dollars also include Harop UAVs and naval cooperations besides training of personnel.
With the two foes now allegedly shifting their fight to a friend’s backyard, Indian foreign ministry officials under the stewardship of External Affairs Minister SM Krishna are unexpectedly and unwillingly dragged to a new diplomatic tangle.
They have to make sure that their diplomatic response does not escalate the supposed fight on the Indian soil and must also ensure that ties with the two strategically important nations are not hampered.
