Expert: US Unable to Undermine Iran-India Ties

TEHRAN (FNA)- A strategic expert has debunked apprehensions in politico-diplomatic circles that Washington could pressurize New Delhi into weakening ties with Iran.

Commodore C Uday Bhaskar (retd), former head of India’s Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses (IDSA), dispelled notions that New Delhi could lose a traditional friend in Tehran.

“The elephant cannot be pushed that easily,” he said on the possibility of US mounting pressure on India vis-à-vis Iran.

“India and Iran have always had different stands on the nuke issue. Iran is pragmatic and very refined in its diplomacy… They have inherited the Persian DNA,” he said.

Drawing the balance sheet for India and America on the Indo-US nuclear deal, he was confident that, “It’s reasonably win-win situation for India”.

“India gains on three fronts, removal of sanctions that would allow India access to the global nuke and hi-tech loop,” he said, adding, “This will enhance our energy options and hence linkage with economy.”

He said India’s admittance to the global order will restore strategic equipoise into the Asian grid, that’s now dominated by China.

On a broader canvas, he said the strategic architecture of the 21st century will be “more balanced”.

“This will allow for some degree of multi-polarity or more precisely consensual and viable polycentricity,” he remarked.