Dr S. Samuel C. Rajiv is Associate Fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. Click here for detailed profile
There is a real danger that India’s strategic space in West Asia could be further constricted due to the rising political tensions on account of the Iranian nuclear imbroglio.
S.M. Krishna’s visit to Israel has added the crucial political content to one of India’s most significant bilateral relationships of the post-Cold War era.
India's foreign policy interactions with Israel are marked by a political discreetness which is in contrast to its prominent political engagement with the Palestinians and countries of the Arab world. India plays down its robust defence engagement with Israel, censures Israeli policies regarding the Palestinians, supports Palestinian-related resolutions at multi-lateral forums like the UN, differs strongly from Israeli policy on issues such as Iran's nuclear programme while being opposed to the possibility of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons capability.
Despite reports of deliberations of war in anticipation of and later publication of the latest IAEA report on Iran’s nuclear programme, the November 18 IAEA resolution has desisted from referring the issue to the UNSC. New set of unilateral sanctions on its oil sector by US, Britain, and Canada announced on November 21 though have further increased the economic stakes for Iran.
Three broad policy determinants can be discerned in Indian reactions to the Iranian nuclear issue. These include: ‘strategic autonomy’ as it relates to Indian foreign policy decision making; concerns regarding ‘regional strategic stability’ as it relates to events in its ‘proximate neighbourhood’; and ‘national security’ implications on account of operative clandestine proliferation networks. Issues relating to the role of the US in influencing Indian policy positions at international forums and vis-à-vis domestic policy were prominent as regards the first determinant.
Irrespective of the outcome of the Palestinian bid to seek to become the 194th UN member-state, the effort is a definitive ‘fork-in-the-road’ as far as the future contours of the intractable issue are concerned.
Though Global Zero’s ‘umbrella activism’ involving current and past policy practitioners and the general public alike can be expected to gain further momentum in the near future, its continued vitality may however be captive to the pressures of the timeline within which its vision is intended to be achieved.
The paralysis at the Conference on Disarmament (CD) captures the state of affairs that has bedevilled the field of arms control/disarmament during the last 10 years.
India and West Asian Political Tensions
There is a real danger that India’s strategic space in West Asia could be further constricted due to the rising political tensions on account of the Iranian nuclear imbroglio.