Days after an International Atomic Energy Agency report raised concerns about the organisation’s ability to monitor parts of Iran’s nuclear programme and suggested that Iran is steadily stockpiling enriched uranium, India has decided to make an attempt to get an exemption for the shipping company Iran-o-Hind from the UN sanctions.
This 35-year old Indo-Iranian joint venture might just become a symbol of a new phase in India’s ties with Tehran that have been in a dormant state for some time now.
Ever since the United States and India started to transform their ties by changing the global nuclear order to accommodate India, Iran has emerged as a litmus test that India has had to pass from time to time to the satisfaction of US policy makers.
India’s traditionally close ties with Iran have become a factor influencing a US-India partnership. India-Iran ties have been termed variously as an ‘axis’, a ‘strategic partnership’, and even an ‘alliance’.
