Geopolitics of ports: Factoring Iran in India’s counterbalancing strategy for “Sino-Pak Axis”

Abstract

The article offers an assessment of Iran’s role in India’s foreign policy calculations vis-à-vis Sino-Pak axis. The changing geopolitical and geostrategic dynamics in the post-Cold War era have brought about new possibilities and opportunities in the Eurasian space. Given the geographical conditions and re-emergence of geopolitical competition, regional connectivity through ports has taken a pivotal position in bilateral and multilateral engagements. Therefore, the port geopolitics has become a buzzword in the regional connectivity. India has many geopolitical, geostrategic and geo-economic interests in the Eurasian region. However, the potential has not been realized yet due to the lack of geographical connectivity. In the backdrop of emerging Sino-Pak axis, their moves and countermoves have been limiting India’s multilateral interests including the connectivity across the Eurasian region. In these matrices, Iran’s Chabahar Port due to its strategic location has become a crucial enabler for India. However, Iran has offered investment opportunities even to China and Pakistan in the same project. The existing enmities/competition between India and China-Pakistan has made it difficult for New Delhi to convert the proposed project of Chabahar Port into reality. Against this background, the article would try to give answers to these questions; what are the regional dynamics regarding the Sino-Pak axis to block India’s connectivity with the Eurasian region? And how Iran’s Chabahar Port can be a helping factor in India’s counterbalancing strategy for Sino-Pak axis?

Impacts of Regional and Global Players on the Dynamics of Pak-Iran Relations: Post-US Withdrawal from Afghanistan Scenario

“…The role of India and its ties to the Iranian government, found through thematic analysis and supported by the literature review, can significantly affect how political relations between India and Iran are worsening. Iran-India relations are far-reaching and multidimensional (Singh & Singh, 2019;Maleki, 2013). Iran's geopolitical position is significant for India, as it can counteract China's increasing presence throughout Asia and boost India's regional influence.…”

China Pakistan Economic Corridor: Perspectives and Challenges for Iran

“…Adversely, it imports skilled labour, industrial supplies and consumers goods (Shafqat, S., 2017). India, United Arab Emirates, China, Turkey, Japan and South Korea are the biggest trading partner countries of Iran (Singh, S., & Singh, B., 2019). Iran was among the major opponents of CPEC at the initial stage but now it has shown her interest in the corridor because of the regional connectivity.…”

Sino-Indian Ties and the Future of South Asia: Geopolitical Implications for Pakistan

“…The geopolitical vision to access the Indian Ocean region along with economic logic is the principal driver of Chinese policy for the initiation of CPEC (Gill, 2020). In order to counter CPEC and developmwent of Gwadar Port in Pakistan through Chinese assistance, India supported the development of Chabahar Port in Iran (Singh & Singh, 2019). Moreover, the rising foothold of China involving superiority in the Indian Ocean is another possible impediment (Roy-Chaudhury, 2018).…”