Iran may become an important point of contact — diplomatically — in the near future, and the reason behind this will not be energy security for India or the geopolitical wrangling in West Asia, but an increasingly challenging situation in Afghanistan.
Iran’s Defence Minister, Brigadier General Amir Hatami, became the first defence minister of the country to visit India in 40 years, opening a new and significant avenue of cooperation between Tehran and New Delhi. More than just the bilateral, Hatami’s visit on the sidelines of the AeroIndia 2021 event in Bengaluru to take part in the first conclave for the defence ministers of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) brings Tehran back into New Delhi’s balancing act in West Asia (Middle East), as it continues to work towards maintaining relations between the Gulf, Israel and Iran. Hatami was invited to attend the event during Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Iran in September 2020. Read More…