Israel-Iran war threatens India's regional energy, transport links
Security guards with sniffer dogs patrol in the port of Chabahar, in southeastern Iran in 2017. © AP
KIRAN SHARMA
NEW DELHI -- The increasingly escalating Israel-Iran conflict, coupled with the U.S. announcing its bombing of Iran's nuclear sites on Saturday, puts at risk India's regional connectivity projects -- including one leveraging Iran's port of Chabahar -- and its energy security, experts warn.
"An escalation of conflict in the Middle East puts Indian interests in jeopardy," Harsh V. Pant, vice president of the Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation (ORF), a think tank, told Nikkei Asia before the American B-2 stealth bombers conducted strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites. Pointing out that New Delhi has "good relations" with both countries, he said, "India's energy security is linked to the stability in the Middle East. ... So India has no interest in the widening of this conflict and the conflict continuing in the region."
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