Chabahar fiesta | Iran, India, Afghanistan

                                                    
                                NOT the smartest handshake.   $$$$ rules!

                                        Image source: Indian media NDTV

The trade agreement between Tehran, New Delhi and Kabul linking Iran's southern Chabahar port with Afghanistan has been alarming and dispiriting. New Delhi and Kabul have since long been at loggerheads with neighboring Pakistan. That story is almost as ancient as the efforts of the Saudi-RAW-CIA triangle destabilizing Pakistan on sectarian lines. Outside Indian soil, Afghanistan has been the seat of RAW for years. Imagine how greatly the Chabahar link to Afghanistan would facilitate the subterranean works of RAW. Though President Rouhani did express his impartiality and awareness of Pakistan's sensitivity on this issue stating "Today’s agreement is not against any other country and all other countries are also welcomed to participate," Mr. Modi refused to mention Pakistan, as expected. India as one of the members of any agreement, will never allow the inclusion of Pakistan, no matter what any one says. Pushing Pakistan into unnecessary isolation, Chabahar agreement would provide a conducive environment to strengthen the abundance of extremist groups in Pakistan with easier support and funding by India via Afghanistan and consequently threatening the already fragile security of the country. Heretofore the disenfranchised Shiia Muslims of Pakistan who are facing deadly attacks from outlawed extremist groups will be the hardest hit on the long term.

For Mr. Modi, the Chabahar agreement goes much beyond boosting Indian economy and countering Pakistan-China trade alliance. It's about interposing and wreaking Pakistan-Iran relations. Moreover, his anti Muslim stance, his cultural / religious bigotry, and his past records of fierce state sponsored terrorism against India's Muslim minority are longstanding facts on the international stage regretted by several segments of the mainstream Indian community itself. Enough reasons for anyone to heed. By the way, the Indian government is not supportive of the Palestinian cause either (which is spiritedly championed by Iran) and has refused to cooperate with the BDS campaign. But why complain of insensitivity towards Pakistan and Palestine? You may recall, recently President Hassan Rouhani's government displayed deeper lack of sentiments towards Syria (which is a much closer ally of Iran than Pakistan or Palestine) by warmly greeting Ahmet Davutoglu in Tehran May 2016 and Recep Erdogan in April 2015, both men having their hands drenched with blood of the Syrian people. Calls from Iranian parliamentarians to cancel Erdogan's visit or for the Iranian President to demand an apology from Erdogan fell on deaf ears. Money talked louder than compassion for the sake of finalizing some deals and exacerbating the volume of trade as if Turkey was a neutral state that never wronged Syria. 

One may explain Rouhani's dual politics as diplomacy of sorts, segregating foreign policy from commerce. But the approach is impractical and seldom works without showing those broad yellow streaks that leave a sour taste in one's mouth.

True spirit of the pan-Islamic state is as elusive as a needle in a haystack, lost never to be found. Nothing is worthwhile, no matter how ethical or conscientious, if it jeopardizes an investment of 500 billion USD.