Greater Noida (Defence Desk), December 09: In a major development this week, as the war in Syria escalated further with the rebel forces capturing Daraa, a southern city near Jordan, marking their fourth major territorial gain, Dr S Jaishankar, India’s External Affairs Minister has said that all Indians in Damascus are safe. The Indian Embassy continues to remain operational in Damascus and is in touch with all Indian nationals there, he said while addressing Manama Dialogue recently in Bahrain.
In one of very significant statements, Jaishankar also added that India is one of the few countries which has the ability to speak to Israel as well as to Iran. “We are serving an important cause,” he said.
But is it a security concern for India? And what is India’s stand when it comes to the ongoing conflicts in Iran and in Syria?
Taking all precautions, India has urged about 90 citizens in Syria to leave the country and advised others not to travel to the West Asian country following major gains by militants led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a Sunni outfit.
The external affairs ministry had asked Indian citizens who cannot leave Syria to “observe utmost precaution about their safety and restrict their movements to the minimum”.
At the same time when we talk of Iran, prime minister Narendra Modi had met Iranian president in October this year on the sidelines of the Brics Summit, in which Iran had participated following its entry as a full member of the grouping just last year.
Both leaders had elaborately discussed the situation in West Asia, and Modi had even then expressed deep concerns towards escalating conflicts and reiterated India’s call for to protect and prevent harm to civilians.
Modi had also emphasised the need for dialogue and diplomacy to de-escalate tensions.
As a follow-up to that, the external affairs minister S Jaishankar went on to say on that right now, the issue is ceasefire, humanitarian assistance and the issue of the return of the hostages. “We have been contributing to UNRWA and we continue to do so. We have provided medicines to Gaza, thru Egypt, to Lebanon,” he stated, adding that when the attacks were at its peak, the drone attacks had come farthest east, some close to India’s coastline. He said he went specially to Iran to discuss issues and to convey our concern.
India has time and again reiterated that it has a positive and constructive relationship with Iran, and with each individual country of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
If we talk of Iran and India, the two nations had signed a MoU in 2015 to jointly cooperate on the development of the Shahid Beheshti Port at Chabahar, Iran. India continues to cooperate closely with Iran in realizing the vision of Chabahar Port as a major regional and international hub in the movement of humanitarian and commercial goods. Further, India has been among Iran’s five largest trade partners in recent years.
The two countries also have in place several Bilateral Consultative Mechanisms at various levels including the Joint Committee Meeting (JCM), Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) and the Security Consultations at the level of National Security Advisers.
India also has been a supporters of Abhrahim accords – bilateral agreements on Arab–Israeli normalization signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and Bahrain.
But how does the Iran and the Syria issue affect that region and India?
In a latest development, the Syrian war escalated to a different level with the rebel forces announcing the capture of Daraa, a southern city near Jordan. This marks their fourth major territorial gain within a week.
This offensive, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a Sunni Islamist political and paramilitary organisation, commonly referred to as Tahrir al-Sham, is the first of its scale since 2020 when rebels were pushed to Syria’s northern regions.
The rebel forces have also seized control of Aleppo, Hama, and Homs, significantly destabilizing Syria’s political landscape.
This sudden insurgency has raised concerns across the region and Iran has began evacuating its citizens and officials, citing the deteriorating security situation.
Iran’s tensions with Israel has further put the region in a vulnerable spot.
Why it matters to India is because all the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations are oil-rich and their look East policy aligns with India’s goal of establishing itself as a developed country.
Off late the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also has made frequent visits to these countries to strengthen bilateral trade and cooperation, UAE being the largest trade partner.
It is as a result of these developments only that the external affairs minister S. Jaishankar has been touring the region specially Qatar as it has become a significant player in negotiating peace talks between Hamas and Israel.
India, therefore, the experts believe, through all the peace talks, cooperations, bilateral talks and trade is primarily focused on its growth as a nation and to set itself up as a developed country among its peers. At the same time, its focus lies on maintaining world peace not solely for its own but for the benefit of the world trade and commerce which affects all economies in the region that has over the years visibly become volatile.
