The link between pipeline and the broader geopolitical landscape, particularly the Kashmir issue, reveals deeper strategic considerations
Iftikhar Gilani
During Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi’s recent visit to Pakistan, it was announced that work on the long-stalled gas pipeline between the two countries will soon begin, signalling a major diplomatic turnaround in the region.
Originally planned in the 1950s, the pipeline was to start from Asliyaa in Iran, intersect with the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan pipeline in Multan (Pakistan) and end in Fazilka (Punjab, India).
However, following India’s withdrawal in 2009 due to pressure from the US and disputes over transit fees, the tri-national project was cancelled. Although Pakistan announced that it would continue to be involved in the pipeline, it also cancelled its participation in 2013 for fear of US sanctions.
Global insurance companies and steel suppliers also refused to participate in the project.
The history of the pipeline is intertwined with significant political episodes dating back to its revival in 1995 under Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao.
When the Congress returned to power in 2004, it appointed Mani Shankar Aiyar as Petroleum Minister, who pushed this tri-national pipeline project with determination and appointed top diplomat Talmeez Ahmed as additional secretary in his ministry. He was put in charge of the project, which was a sign of India’s serious commitment.
However, this momentum was interrupted by geopolitical shifts, particularly the negotiations for a nuclear deal with the US. Aiyar became the first causality of the Indo-US nuclear deal when he was transferred from the Petroleum Ministry to the Panchayati Raj Ministry.
Kashmir Connection
The link between the pipeline and the broader geopolitical landscape, particularly the Kashmir issue, reveals deeper strategic considerations.
In March 1994, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) wanted to introduce a resolution condemning India for human rights violations in Kashmir during the session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (now the Council).
This was a sensitive time for India, which was still seen as being under the influence of the now-defunct Soviet Union. Western countries were awaiting the adoption of this resolution by the UNHRC and were planning to discuss it in the UN Security Council to push for possible sanctions against India. It was the time when India’s friend, the Soviet Union, had disintegrated and its successor Russia under Boris
Rao knew that he could no longer rely on the Russian veto if the resolution reached the UN Security Council. The Indian economy itself was in a precarious position as it had recently pledged its gold reserves to avert a fiscal crisis.
Therefore, it decided to derail the resolution even before it reached the UNHRC at the OIC level.
Against this backdrop, ailing Indian Foreign Minister Dinesh Singh was secretly sent to Tehran with a critical message from Prime Minister Rao to Iranian President Hashmi Rafsanjani.
Singh was admitted to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences. Along with his bed and a team of doctors, he was transported to Tehran in an Indian Air Force plane, and it is said that for the next 24 hours, someone else occupied his bed in the hospital room.
In Tehran, Singh, despite his poor health, met with senior Iranian leaders and delivered a letter that is said to have persuaded Iran to withdraw its support for the OIC resolution, thereby preventing consensus and delaying progress on the resolution.
This manoeuvre illustrated the complicated dance of diplomacy and the leverage of bilateral relations in international forums.
According to diplomats, Rao’s appeal to Iranian President Rafsanjani was framed as a request for support from another Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) country against Western hegemony.
Still a Mystery
What exactly prompted Iran to withdraw from supporting the resolution is still a mystery, but the statements and actions that followed this move provide some clues. Shortly after the rejection of the resolution, a preliminary agreement was signed between India and Iran for the construction of the pipeline, which was labelled a peace pipeline.
A few months later, when Prime Minister Narasimha Rao was on his way to the African country of Burkina Faso to attend the Non-Aligned Summit, he said that for a final solution to Kashmir, any option except independence could be negotiated. His phrase “The sky is the limit for Kashmir” attracted a lot of attention.
A week before this attempt, the Iranian ambassador in New Delhi, Ali Sheikh Raza Attar, had hosted a dinner for Hurriyat leaders Syed Ali Gilani and Abdul Ghani Lone at his residence.
He assured them that the settlement of the Kashmir conflict is an integral part of Iran’s foreign policy.
Rao appointed opposition leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the head of the Indian delegation heading to Geneva, which also included Minister of State for External Affairs Salman Khurshid and former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah. It was a strategic masterstroke aimed at deflecting international attention from the visit of Dinesh Singh to Tehran.
As the team led by Vajpayee reached Geneva, came the news that differences had arisen in the Organisation of the Islamic Conference over the resolution and Iran had refused to support a resolution that would benefit the Western world.
The Iranian ambassador in Delhi, who had hosted Hurriyat leaders himself had little idea of what was happening in Tehran, but he kept convincing Kashmiri leaders that India had offered something very big and it would not be right to reject it outright.
Vajpayee and Farooq Abdullah always took credit for convincing Iran in Geneva.
Rao also never tried to take this credit away from them during his lifetime. But it was to his credit and that of the ailing Dinesh Singh and then Iranian President who changed the game in Tehran in a high-profile and secretive operation.
It reverberated in Delhi’s diplomatic circles decades later.
This was the last foreign visit of Dinesh Singh, who died a few months later.
But later, no progress was made on either the pipeline or Rao’s promise that “Sky is the limit for Kashmir”. Both were thrown to the wind as the international pressure eased on India.
The story of the Indo-Iranian pipeline project is a testament to the intricate links between energy policy and international diplomacy, where pipelines are not just about gas, but also about political goodwill and strategic alliances.
Have you liked the news article?