Chabahar is a metaphor for strategic autonomy
Hindustan TimesIndia’s declaration of a day-long State mourning and the lowering of the national flag to half-mast to commemorate the unexpected deaths of Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was a rare gesture. India recently signed a 10-year contract to operate the Chabahar port in Iran and further expand its investments in this strategic outpost on the Gulf of Oman. Given the extreme tensions flaring up between Iran and its regional rivals, India’s move carried risks but demonstrated its firm determination to manage its multiple strategic partnerships and extract the most from all of them. This is because India has a robust strategic partnership with Israel and Tel Aviv does understand New Delhi’s compulsions and motivations for developing Chabahar, which doesn’t conflict with Israeli interests.