By: S. Nawabzadeh
Inseparably joined by geography, the Iranian Plateau and the Subcontinent have shared a long history of cultural, commercial, lingual, and religious ties that have withstood the test of time, despite the ups and downs that normally occur in political relationships.
Since time immemorial Iranians have migrated in large numbers to the landmass in the east, enriching the culture, art, architecture, literature, poetry, technology, culinary quality, and administration of what are now India and Pakistan.
If these exemplary ties reached their peak during the two centuries-plus rule of the Safavid dynasty when the borders of Iran and India overlapped in present day Afghanistan, with Qandahar often being the bone of contention, this relationship has been given a further boost with the new trade routes fast emerging in the region to interconnect the countries of Asia.
The interests of the people of the two sides in each other’s affairs run so deep that if the 19th century Lord Macaulay had banned the use of Persian language in British India out of fear of the influence of political developments in Iran on the people of British India, in the 20th century, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei (in the pre-Islamic Revolution years) had written an excellent research book on the role of Indian Muslims in the independence struggle the British colonialists.
This week the bilateral ties between Iran and India were further cemented with the 3-day visit of President Hojjat al-Islam Dr. Hassan Rouhani to India, his signing of at least 15 important bilateral agreements in various fields, and his 2-day memorable stay in the city of Hyderabad where he was given a rousing reception by the local people.
He spoke on Islamic solidarity, Shi’a-Sunni unity, the dangers of US-created Takfirism that feeds on disunity and sectarianism, and the age-old ties between Iran and India, particularly in the Deccan or southern India, where in the not so distant past successive dynasties of Iranian origin flourished to give birth to a cosmopolitan culture that culminated in the founding of the city of Hyderabad by the Qotb-Shahis from Hamedan and their Prime Minister and Master-Architect, Mir Momin Astarabadi of what is now Gorgan in Golestan Province.
Rouhani had the distinction of being the first president of a country to address the Friday congregation at the famous Mecca Masjid after and the weekly Prayer attended by both Sunni and Shi’a Muslims.
In New Delhi, the capital of India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accorded a very warm reception to the Iranian President, and citing the historical ties of the two lands, called for working closely together to not only make a success story of trade ties, but to safeguard the security of the region.
India’s emphasis on forging cordial ties is commendable in view of the pressures of the US on New Delhi against getting close to Tehran and the recent feverish attempts of the Zionists to dissuade Modi from cooperating with the Islamic Republic.
It, however, seems that the government of India, although predominantly Hindu, has realized the importance of the role played by Islamic Iran in promoting peace and security in the whole region spreading from West, Central and South Asia, through practical measures, such as Iran’s profound influence on Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and other places, to weed out terrorists which are also a danger for the security of India.
Iran also plays a strategic role in Afghanistan, with which India has cordial ties, and at the same time, enjoys friendly and fraternal ties with Pakistan, insisting that the two rivals of the subcontinent bury the hatchet and work towards the peace and prosperity of the region, rather than bowing to the pressures of outsiders, like the US, which in the future will no longer be there to cast its ominous shadow, while the people of the region will always be there.
In short, India’s role in the development of Chabahar port and the rail-road link to Afghanistan and the land locked Central Asian states for facilitating trade, is beneficial to both Tehran and New Delhi, as well as the other countries of the region.