Iran signs defence pact with india

[Othin 0]

Caught this over on the SA forums. Anyone else hear about this or have another source?

http://www.satribune.com/archives/feb24_mar1_03/P1_iran.htm

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Iran Signs Defence Pact with India against Pakistan

Deafening Silence in Islamabad over Biggest Foreign Policy Setback

By Shaheen Sehbai

WASHINGTON: Pakistan is stunned. The intense shrill of silence is deafening. Not even the free media is talking about the issue which is by far the most staggering failure of not only General Pervez Musharraf but the entire military establishment. Apparently the elected political leadership has also been told not to touch the issue, not to raise national security concerns.

No official spokesman, from General Musharraf to PM Jamali to Information Minister Sheikh Rashid to Major General Rashid Qureshi to Foreign Office’s Aziz Khan, have yet provided the nation any explanation of how and why the brotherly, Islamic nation and a trusted friend and ally of Pakistan, Iran, has turned into a strategic partner and military ally of India, and shockingly and publicly so, against Pakistan.

The latest word on this sensitive subject has come from world renowned Jane’s Defence Weekly, the authentic voice on strategic and defence matters. And all JDW could say in its latest issue was that Pakistan “was expected to respond to the signing of India's recent accord with Iran, which would allow India the use of Iranian military bases in the event of any outbreak of tensions with Pakistan.†Can any one believe that this agreement was signed more than one month ago and no one has yet been able to respond in Islamabad.

What has gone wrong with Pak-Iran relations? Iranian President just recently visited Pakistan but while he was in Islamabad, Indian and Iranian officials were finalizing the text of the defence pact under which India can now use Iranian land and air space and military bases against Pakistan. So what was General Musharraf talking about with the Iranian President? Did he indicate that his country was ready to sign a military pact against Pakistan? What did General Musharraf say to him? What has annoyed Teheran so much that the country which once allowed Pakistan to park most of its air force and PIA aircraft during a war with India, is now ready to provide the same facility to Pakistan’s enemies?

According to the Jane’s Defence Weekly the Indo-Iran “pact had shifted the strategic balance in South Asia and looked very much like an encirclement of Pakistan by India.†Following the pact “pressure on Pakistan's defences would be almost overwhelming,†the magazine said.

The pact was signed a week before the visit of Iranian President Muhammad Khatami to India to join the celebrations for India's national day on Jan 26. Signed in Tehran by the Indian Naval Chief and the Iranian Minister of Defence, the pact marks a complete turnaround by Iran, which used to be a close ally of Pakistan, JDW said.

It said how the pact fitted in with India's defence relationship with Israel was unclear, 'but the threat that could pose to Pakistan is all too real. The pressure on Pakistan's defences would be almost overwhelming. We expect Pakistan to respond. Much will depend on the reaction of the Bush administration," the weekly commented.

The most obvious reason for this Iranian U-Turn, a phenomenon General Musharraf is very familiar with, is Pakistan’s dilly dallying on the issue of the Gas Pipeline through Pakistan to India, a project which Teheran and New Delhi have been viewing as a major strategic event that would change economic fortunes of both the countries. Pakistan has been seen as a major bottleneck by New Delhi, although Islamabad has been providing assurances.

Pakistani Army’s utopian vision of conquering Kashmir thereby defeating India and brandishing its nuclear sword every time things heat up as result of its belligerency are now producing these catastrophic results. It has now been established beyond any doubt that whenever any political leadership tried to work for a face saving, middle of the road compromise with India, the Pakistan Army, led by commandos like General Musharraf, sabotaged those efforts. The Rajiv Gandhi visit during Benazir Bhutto’s first tenure and Vajpayee’s Lahore Bus Journey are two glaring examples.

Now the Army itself is in control of the political and strategic landscape and thus not only the Indians have refused to talk, they have convinced Pakistan’s closest friends and allies that their stand is correct and Pakistan Army cannot be trusted. Not just on its assurances about its role in Kashmir but not even for a project of huge economic interest to its neighbor and friend Iran. In short Pakistan and its Army has been dumped by Iran in favor of India.

Thus the key issue is that no body believes in Pakistani President Musharraf’s words. India is expected not to believe him but when Iran publicly rebuffs the General, there can be no bigger indictment of the army’s damaging role and influence on the economic and national security of Pakistan.

A deeper analysis would reveal that the Iranian shift has not come out of the blue but has been in the works ever since Prime Minister Vajpayee visited Teheran in April of 2001. A brief progress report would include:

- Iran and India sign six bilateral agreements during visit by PM Vajpayee who also addressed the Iranian Parliament.

- On June 24, 2002 Iran's National Security Chief Hassan Rowhani left Tehran for India for talks on bilateral security issues and also the Kashmir dispute. During his trip, Rowhani met Vajpayee and said: "Security cooperation between our two countries was launched one year ago, but the current sensitive circumstances require an expansion of this cooperation."

- On Nov 9, 2002, India and Iran signed a joint statement expressing commitment to promote and expand scientific and technological cooperation between the two sides. The statement was signed by Science and Technology Minister, Murli Manohar Joshi and the Iranian Minister for Science, Research and Technology, Mostafa Moeen in Tehran.

- In December 2002, during President Khatami’s visit to Pakistan, the Iranian President made it clear that it was for Pakistan to remove the Indian apprehensions on the feasibility of the Gas Pipeline project.

- On January 5, 2003 Iranian Trade Minister Mohammad Shariatmadari, Afghan Trade Minister Mostafa Kazemi and Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Digvijay Singh signed two memorandums on cooperation in the spheres of trade, economy and transportation. The Memorandums provide for the increase in the level of trilateral cooperation in economic and transportation areas and also in the development of a joint trade policy and mutual investments.

- Indian newspaper ‘The Hindu’ said on Jan 19, 2003 Iran had become an important factor in India's efforts to reorder the geopolitics of its troubled Western neighborhood. New Delhi in the past was wary of the close relations between Iran and Pakistan. Now India sees its expanding cooperation with Iran as an instrument that could help nudge Pakistan in the direction of political moderation and regional economic integration.

- The Indian-Iranian Defence Pact is signed in Teheran providing for Iranian bases to India in case of a war with Pakistan.

- On Jan 21, 2003 at a meeting in Tokyo, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the Indian Disinvestment Minister, Arun Shourie, discussed the possibility of sending one million tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan through Iran. The issue came up in the light of Islamabad's refusal to allow the wheat, under the World Food Program (WFP), from India to Afghanistan via Pakistan.

- Iranian President Khatami visited New Delhi on Jan 23-26 and the two countries signed signed seven agreements in which, according to the Delhi Declaration: "All aspects of bilateral cooperation" were included, ranging from economic exchanges to science and technology, infotech, educational training, the reconstruction of Afghanistan and terrorism. Specific agreements signed also related to labour and social affairs, cultural exchange and urban water management. On the issue of terrorism, the declaration said that states "which aid, abet and directly support terrorism should be condemned".

- Vajpayee said during Khatami’s visit India and Iran had agreed that a "mutually acceptable and stable arrangement for the transportation of gas" needed to be found. "Iran has gas and we want it," Vajpayee said. "But there are some impediments in the middle which we are trying to remove. We are working towards a mutually satisfactory agreement which will be long lasting," he added without elaborating.

- On Feb 11, Pakistan’s Information Minister announced Prime Minister Jamali would visit Iran from Feb 15 but the visit never took place.

- On Feb 14, 2003 India and Iran started talks to finalize an agreement on cooperation in dealing with terrorism, drug trafficking and security issues. The discussions were held in Tehran between a five-member Indian delegation, led by Home Secretary N. Gopalaswami, the highest ranking bureaucrat in the home ministry, and an Iranian team led by his counterpart Ali Asghar Ahmadi.

- On Feb 20, 2003 India said it will bypass Pakistan as it pursues a multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline project with Iran. Petroleum Minister Ram Naik said the pipeline from Iran to India would bypass Pakistan by going through the sea. He said he would travel to Iran within three months to discuss the deal. "We have not spoken to Pakistan on this and we are not going to talk to them," Naik told parliament. "We have to buy from Iran; there is no proposal to get it overland. It can come through the sea route," he said.

Given this developing scale of relations, where was Pakistan and its leadership during all this time and what were they doing to ensure that their vital national security interests were safeguarded and Iran was not so frustrated that it may almost write off Pakistan in favor of India.

Now what is apparent is that Pakistan has been excluded from all Iran-Indian dealings. Iran has even offered to multiply transit trade to Afghanistan. India would be sending its wheat to Kabul again through Iran. The axis against Pakistan is almost complete, the isolation confirmed.

What can Pakistan do in such a scenario? The question has to be answered by the military leadership which has been ruling the country and driving it to the abyss. Loss of Iran is not something General Musharraf can brush under the carpet. It would be unbelievable for millions of Pakistanis to ever imagine Indians attacking Pakistan from Iranian soil.

Only a blundering and blind military dictatorship could have brought the country to such a pass<span id='postcolor'>

This is quite a diplomatic victory for India. Not only does this give them the strategic benefits of being able to attack Pakistan from Iranian territory, but it also gets the pipeline issue resolved. My only hope is that it dosen't cause Pakistan to feel threatened and lash out at India or Kashmir.

The author of this seems a bit biased though, I've been looking around for other sources but so far have come up empty...

[Jinef 0]

Hmm..

Interesting but i don't think it will lead to much, just a hunch.

[FSPilot 0]

Hopefully it will stop Pakistan from making any aggressive moves. The problem is that now India has the upper hand and might make some of its own.