TEHRAN: External Affairs Minister Dinesh Singh who arrived in Tehran on March5 is scheduled to hold wide ranging discussions with the Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen in Tehran on Sunday. The talks are considered significant for they not only will review the entire gamut of bilateral ties but could also lead to the emergence of an India-Iran-China axis.
Informed sources said here that Mr. Singh would hold discussions oné number of bilateral and regional issues with Qian Qichen. The India-China accord on the Line of Actual Control (LoAC) and other issues which Narasimha Rao pushed in Beijing are also expected to be reviewed when the two foreign ministers meet on Sunday
The sources said that the initiative for talks with Indian Tehran came from the Chinese side as Beijing had been pursuing vigorous regional diplomacy in recent times. Briefing newsmen a senior Indian official said that China saw in India a common ally in the rapidly-changing power equations of South Asia. Likewise the official added Iran also perceived India. and China as friends in resisting post-cold war U S hegemonistic tendencies.
Tran does not see that advantage in Pakistan in view of the level of US influence in that country. Diplomatic observers attribute a great deal of significance to India and
China holding talks in Tehran. They point to the oft-repeated fear of the Clinton Administration that India China and Tran are emerging as a power axis in the South and South-West Asia region.
In fact diplomats have attributed the hardening Clinton position in South Asia to this possible strategic alliance between the three leading powers of Asia. The Iranian Government on its part is keen to build stronger bridges with India. Having played an important role in bringing about a strategic link involving India and China Tehran views the axis as a manifestation of its regional dreams.
he process Slanted with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akhtar Velayati visit to India in February 1992 and has gained momentum with subsequent visits to Iran by President Shankar Dayal Sharma Prime Minister Narasimha Rao and a number of Indian Ministers
China has also stepped up the level of its interaction with Iran and India as marked by frequent high-level visits to the two countries by high officials from Beijing. Sources here said that a regional are spanning Iran. India and China was now very much a reality
Earlier in an interview to the Iranian News Agency in New Delhi Dinesh Singh declared that India and Tran were all set to enter a new phase of multi-faceted relationship
Asked about Indias response to Iranian President Hashmi Rafsanjani’s suggestion regarding a Tehran-Delhi-Beijing axis
Dinesh Singh said that traditional tics between the three countries and the common problems and the difficulties they faced would certainly provide a promising backdrop to efforts at identifying the possibilities of cooperation.
The External Affairs Minister however said that such an axis must be formed in the larger framework of Intra-Asia cooperation with full cooperation from and to the countries of ASEAN Central Asia and the Persian Gulf regions and Japan. President Rafsanjani’s Suggestion had aroused a lot of interest and debate which should facilitate the evolution of perceptions and cooperative approaches at the Governmental level Singh added
India will be looking for signals from Iran about which way it will vote on the Pakistan-sponsored resolution on alleged human rights violations in Kashmir at the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) Much would of course depend on whether the two sides can further consolidate their traditionally close political ties and it is in this context that the Iranian vote On Pakistan’s resolution assumes great significance According to Indian officials Tran has not so far given any indication about which way it would vote. For Teheran it cannot be an easy decision to take given the leading role it plays in the Islamic world on the one hand and its close links with India on the other.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 11, 1994
