Sufi saints to strategic ports: The many layers of India-Iran ties

New Delhi: India’s ties with Iran have steadily consolidated in the last three decades, with former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee laying the foundation of the strategic partnership between the two nations by signing the Tehran Declaration in 2001 to provide India with a vital toehold in Central Asia and Afghanistan.

The Indo-Persian trade and cultural relations are, however, of a much older vintage, going back almost a millennium. Ashrafpur-Kichaucha, a small town located 100 km east of Lucknow in Ambedkarnagar district, is home to the tomb of the third most revered Sufi saint in India. Built atop a small hillock, the shrine of Makhdoom Ashraf Jahangir Simnan attracts lakhs of followers every year and stands as a testament to a syncretic cultural evolution.

Makhdoom Ashraf, who played a significant role in the development of the Chishti and Qadri Sufi orders, was born in the ruling family of the province of Simnan in 13th-century Iran. Inspired by Sufi mysticism, he travelled east to arrive in India, where he spent the rest of his life.

The Persian influence in the courts of the Nawabs of Avadh was evident. The royal family of Lucknow traced their origins to Nishapur in Khorasan province of the Safavid Empire in Iran. Under the Shia Nawabs, Lucknow emerged as the key centre of Shi’ism Islam in India in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Avadh had a substantial Shia population. The family of Ruhollah Khomeini, the father of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, belonged to Kitoor in Barabanki district, about 70 km east of Lucknow. Khomeini’s grandfather, Syed Ahmad Musavi Hindi, migrated to Najaf in Iraq in 1830 and later settled in Khomeyn in Iran.

After Independence, New Delhi and Tehran signed a friendship treaty in 1950 calling for "perpetual peace and friendship". However, Iran under the Shah regime remained firmly in the US bloc, while India preferred to remain non-aligned, forging defence ties with the erstwhile Soviet Union.

After the 1979 Revolution, Iran entered into a prolonged war on its western front with Iraq. India did a fine balancing act to protect its energy interests in West Asia.

After the Cold War, the relations between the two countries warmed up with the visit of PM PV Narasimha Rao to Tehran in 1993. In 1995, the then president Rafsanjani made a reciprocal visit to India. Atal Bihar Vajpayee, former PM and the LS MP from Lucknow, further strengthened India-Iran ties on a wide range of issues, including strategic and defence cooperation, by signing the Tehran declaration in 2001 to meet India’s strategic objectives in Central Asia and the west of Pakistan. In 2003, Iranian President Khatami was the chief guest at the annual Republic Day parade in Delhi.

Even as it firmed up its ties with Israel, India has continued to, albeit judiciously, engage with Iran despite the Western sanctions over its nuclear programme imposed in 2006. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also travelled to Iran in 2016.

Development and operations of the Chabahar port with Indian help are central to the prospects of giving a fillip to trade between India, Iran, and Afghanistan. The port also serves as a crucial link to the International North-South Corridor (INSTC) between India, Iran and Russia (now joined by 11 other countries) to boost trade between Central Asian Republics and beyond by providing a seamless cargo movement between Mumbai and Astrakhan, a Russian port in the Caspian Sea.