India’s ambassador to Iran discusses bilateral relations on India’s 77th Independence Day:
India Open to Iran’s BRICS Engagement
Staff writer
As India commemorates its 77th Independence Day, we had the opportunity to sit down with India’s ambassador to Iran, Rudra Gaurav Shresth, to discuss the country’s progress since gaining independence from the United Kingdom, and its long-standing relationship with Iran, a country that has been “a much older friend” for India, than the length of the existence of some of the world powers today. Ambassador Shresth offered valuable insights into the bonds binding the two countries. From politics and investment to tourism and cinema, we explored the issues that could be considered common interests of the two nations.
Ambassador Shresth has been at the helm of the Indian Embassy in Tehran for almost three months, and this is his first interview with an Iranian media outlet. A genial character and a knowledgeable career diplomat, he sincerely believes in the significance of the age-old ties between India and Iran, and the necessity of bolstering them.
The ambassador emphasizes Indians’ “keen desire to show our independence every day,” and reckons the friendship between the two nations – which some powerful countries oppose – as a way for India to showcase and exercise its independence. Thus, he notes that any expression of friendship between Iran and India is “for us an expression of India’s independence on the world stage.”
IRAN DAILY: How does post-Independence India differ from the colonial era?
SHRESTH: When India achieved its independence in 1947, it was a starkly poor and underdeveloped country. It had very limited capacity to ensure the food-security, health, education, and economic well-being of its approximately 340 million citizens. In contrast, today India has the capacity to feed, educate and treat all its people, despite the fact that our population has grown by more than four times to 1.4 billion people.
In the colonial era, there was a systematic effort to destroy India’s industrial base, and to make it a supplier of raw materials for colonial industries. Today, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Make in India’ and ‘Make for the world’, India’s manufacturing sector is a leading global destination for Foreign Direct Investments, and our exports are also increasing at a very fast pace.
Newly independent India was largely illiterate, with higher education reserved only for the elite sections. Today, India produces 1.5 million new engineers every year. We have successfully sent spaceships to the moon and Mars. We are a nuclear power. Our Information Technology sector alone is larger than the entire economies of many other countries. Talented Indians can be found in the top ranks of most major Fortune-500 companies, especially in areas of cutting edge technologies.
But more than all these economic and technological achievements, the most important difference between pre and post independence India is that today India is the world’s largest democracy. Independent India’s destiny is shaped by its own people, not by rulers sitting in some other country. And that is why all Indians take equal pride in their country’s rising profile and stature, despite the fact that we have hundreds of languages and almost all major world religions are represented among the Indian population.
What key expectations does the Indian Government have from Iran in order to cement political and economic ties? Which areas of cooperation between India and Iran have been overlooked or not received adequate attention? Does your Government view Iran as a viable long-term energy supplier?
India and Iran share an excellent relationship at the level of political leadership. Our populations have also had tremendous respect and affection for each other, over many Centuries. It is notable that there are no points of bilateral friction or misunderstanding between us, which is quite rare between large and important countries located close to each other. Our leadership maintains regular contact with each other, and these meetings are always cordial and friendly, where both sides enjoy recalling our cultural, linguistic, and literary commonalities with great pleasure.
Both our countries have created an elaborate architecture of dialogue forums and cooperation mechanisms in various specific sectors, and many of our specialised agencies, such as our Central Banks, our Plant Protection bureaus, our Narcotics Control organisations, our security agencies, etc. maintain regular contacts with each other.
We also collaborate well in international and multilateral forums. India welcomed Iran’s recent entry into the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, while India was chairing this regional body.
While our political, diplomatic, security and institutional relations are excellent, it is true that our economic ties, and our people-to-people exchanges remain below potential at present. Both countries are determined to correct this, and this remains a regular point of discussion between us.
Our traditional business and trade links have remained somewhat concentrated in only a few commodities - with energy exports from Iran playing a dominant role in these exchanges. This is natural, because Iran is a close and friendly neighbour with abundant energy resources, and hence an obvious supplier for meeting India’s growing energy needs. However, because of the traditional dominance of energy products in our bilateral trade, we have perhaps given less attention to other possible goods and commodities.
There is plenty of scope to diversify our trade basket. We need to raise greater awareness among our businesses about the competitive advantages of each other’s products. Both countries are working together to create such awareness. Recently, the Trade Promotion Organisation of Iran organised a useful event which saw good participation from Indian industry also. We need to organise more such events, and focus on newer products and sectors, where we have good capacities but where our present trade volumes are limited. Our efforts are already bearing fruit - as per the latest data released by the Iran Government, our bilateral trade increased by 47% in the Iranian Calendar year 1401, to reach almost 5 billion US Dollars.
It must be admitted that in recent years our economic links have also been impacted by external geo-political factors such as sanctions and banking restrictions. While both countries have tried to find solutions to these constraints, they do continue to affect our trade potential. We hope for an eventual easing of these extraneous factors, so that both countries can realise the full potential of our trade and investment exchanges.
Increasing people-to-people contacts, especially between our younger generations, is important for preserving the warmth and cordiality of the India-Iran friendship. That is why we are focused on increasing contact and collaboration in the fields of education, sports and culture, so that our youth get an opportunity to get to meet and appreciate each other directly, rather than knowing each other through the eyes of others. Our Embassy is in regular contact with relevant Iranian educational, cultural and sporting organisations, to boost such exchanges. We are receiving excellent and enthusiastic cooperation from the Iran side in these efforts.
What concrete plans can be implemented to boost tourism between Iran and India? Are there any specific plans in motion?
Both India and Iran possess a rich and ancient cultural heritage, iconic historical sites, breathtaking natural beauty, a variety of climatic zones, and a rich tradition of hospitality. Moreover, the cultural richness of both countries draws upon a shared heritage, which is reflected in the similarities between our languages, cuisine, music and architecture.
Throughout history, our people have travelled to each other’s countries - whether as merchants, students, holy men, healers, or pilgrims. There is certainly tremendous scope to encourage greater tourist flows between us today also. In particular, there is tremendous potential for Iran to attract more Indian tourists. Given India’s massive population, the number of Indian tourists travelling to Iran is quite small. This is partly because of lack of information. It will be good if Iran could better advertise its incredible tourist attractions in India.
Both countries have been discussing measures to increase tourist flows. An MOU on Tourism cooperation is under negotiation. Some of the constraints that stand in the way of increasing tourist traffic are the limited air-connectivity between both countries, and problems related to payments and banking links. Despite these constraints, however, there is quite a lot of scope to increase tourism in both directions, and both countries are determined to work together for this.
As the largest film producer globally, India holds a prominent position in the cinematic world. The Iranian film industry has also garnered praise for its highly acclaimed films, winning trophies at international festivals including the Academy Awards. Given these achievements, is there potential for cooperation between India and Iran in the realm of cinema?
It is true that both our people are passionate about cinema. As you mentioned, the subtle realism of Iranian films has won accolades all over the world, including in India. Iranian films often win awards in Indian Film Festivals, such as the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), the International Children’s Film Festival of India, etc. Iranian film directors have also been invited to act as judges or as part of the jury selection boards of Indian film festivals. This is an acknowledgment of their fine cinematic sensibility.
Similarly, Bollywood movies and artistes have also been popular in Iran for a very long time. I am still quite new in Iran, but many Iranians I have met have spoken to me about ‘Sholay’, and said that it is one of their favourite films. Many of them even remember the iconic songs from that classic movie!
Given this mutual interest and enjoyment for each other’s cinema, there is certainly scope to increase our cooperation in this artistic realm. In recent years, we did have collaborations in some movies. But a lot more can be done, and we would be happy to facilitate contacts between our film-makers. As the world’s largest movie-making country, India has a top-rated institute to teach acting, direction, and various technical aspects related to producing films. We would be happy to welcome more Iranian students in this institute.
Many foreign countries have started offering facilities in their tourist sites for shooting scenes and songs of Bollywood movies. When Indian audiences see these sites on screen, it often leads to significant increase in tourist flows from India. Iran could also consider this innovative way of advertising its own exquisite tourist treasures in India. This would also provide opportunities to our film-makers to meet and get to know each other.
What is India’s stance on Iran’s possible membership of BRICS?
The Foreign Ministry of Iran had recently organised a useful Conference on possibilities of cooperation between Iran and BRICS, in which I had the privilege to take part. I had explained India’s stance on this issue quite clearly during the conference. India welcomes Iran’s engagement with BRICS. As far as formal expansion of the BRICS group is concerned, the BRICS member countries are conducting internal discussions on the criteria, modalities and procedures for this. India has an open and positive approach on the issue, and is contributing constructively to these internal discussions. As per BRICS traditions, the final decisions on these issues will be taken on the basis of consensus.
What are the reasons behind the slower-than-expected progress in India’s efforts to develop Iran’s Chabahar port?
India and Iran both share an ambitious vision of regional connectivity centred on the Chabahar port. For India, the Chabahar port is an optimally located node for accessing Afghanistan, Central Asia, the Caucasus and Eurasian markets. Therefore, India is fully committed to realising this connectivity vision. That is why we have proposed inclusion of Chabahar into the broader International North South Transport Corridor. I had myself travelled to Chabahar immediately after presenting my Credentials to His Excellency the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to underline the importance that India attaches to this project.
To fully integrate Chabahar into the regional connectivity grid requires investment in developing and operating the port, developing an industrial zone around the port, and connecting the port to the hinterland. This larger enterprise is something that is being largely undertaken by Iran on its own, and for which the relevant Iranian authorities have drawn up a long-term plan. It is understandable that the present geopolitical environment poses constraints for developing some of the facilities. In the longer-run, we hope that these difficulties will be resolved and the required work can be accelerated.
India’s own direct involvement in Chabahar is, at present, limited to the actual operation of some of the port facilities. This has already been going on for several years now. The Indian entity responsible for operating these facilities has brought in significant equipment into the port, despite the fact that both sides are still negotiating a long-term contract for India’s involvement. Recently, there has also been an encouraging increase in the traffic in the port, despite many constraints.
India has made its own efforts to popularise Chabahar port in the region. For instance, earlier this year, India organised the first India-Central Asia Joint Working Group on Chabahar in Mumbai, where Iran participated as a special guest. In 2021 and 2022 also, we had celebrated ‘Chabahar Day’ in India, to highlight the connectivity potential of this port. Even while chairing the SCO Summit in July this year, Prime Minister Modi emphasised the importance of Chabahar.
Sometimes, certain vested interests try to spread propaganda questioning India’s commitment towards Chabahar port. These interests perhaps do not wish to see Iran and India collaborate on a strategic regional initiative. I would like to once again reiterate that India fully supports the vision of Chabahar as a strategically important connectivity hub in the region. Realising this vision needs joint efforts by all relevant stakeholders. The most important requirement is to develop the necessary infrastructure facilities and the industrial eco-system around Chabahar and to connect it to the hinterland. We fully support the efforts of the relevant Iranian authorities towards this end.