Any sloth in executing the Chabahar project will be a strategic mistake.
FOR MOST OF the hour-long journey, Rashid (not his real name) concealed his excitement about speaking with the visitor he had ferried from Iran’s Konark airfield – a wobbly landing strip straight out of a Wild West film – to Chabahar port. As he came close to the swanky Firdaws Hotel located in the port’s free zone, Rashid couldn’t control his urge to speak. In accent-free Hindustani (he called it Urdu), he asked me, “Are you from India? Here everyone speaks in Urdu.”
Such an interesting initiation to Chabahar, a port city on the shore of the Oman Sea in Iran’s Baluch-Sistan province, made amply clear its strategic location and why India is promising to invest $20 billion in developing the port and other industries in its sprawling free zone. Chabahar allows India to side-step Pakistan, which blocks its access to Afghanistan and Central Asia. Translated as ‘four springs’, the port has been described by medieval traveller Al Beruni as the entry point to the Indian subcontinent. Pakistan’s Gwadar port, in which the Chinese are investing $46 billion, is barely 72 km away. Proximity to Pakistan’s Baluchistan not only sustains the Urdu of Baluchis like Rashid, but also relationships. Iranians get a 15-day visa to visit Pakistan for weddings and. in some cases, for treatment.
この記事は Hardnews の December 2016 - January 2017 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Hardnews の December 2016 - January 2017 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
The Making Of A Hard State
By ratcheting up nationalistic sentiments to a fever pitch, the BJP is trying to reap political dividends.
The Business Of Encounters
The UP police claim that it has seized over ₹146 crore from ‘gangsters’ in the state in a matter of 11 months deserves closer scrutiny as allegations mount of arbitrariness in seizing properties
Cases 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000: What Is Happening To Netanyahu
Everything you need to know about the cases against Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu
India's Botched-up Id Project
The SC verdict in the ongoing case to ascertain the constitutional validity of Aadhaar will have far-reaching consequences
A 'Softer' Islam, For A Moderate Modi
DESPITE BEING UNDERRATED and under editorialised by the Indian media, there is nothing that anyone can really take away from the importance of the event organised by the Indian Islamic and Cultural Centre (IICC) to provide a forum for the visiting King of Jordan, His Majesty, King Abdullah II, to expound his views on the moderate nature of Islam and the imperative to fight radical Islam.
Net Neutrality and an Open Internet
In recent years, the campaign to maintain citizen's right to the Internet - and protect them from practices that would benefit only a few - has become firece and noisy.
Referendum on Cash Ban
If early polling is anything to go by, then the assembly elections across five states could mean an all or nothing scenario for the BJP
changing the demonetisation narrative like a chameleon changes colours
no matter what the spin around the note ban, it is clear the move was a politically expedient decision rather than a principled policy move.
Come and See The Blood In The Streets
Incidents of violence targetting the minorities have become routine in the last 16 months. Prime Minister Modis government has done little to shun the belief that the culprits dont enjoy its patronage.
The Gates of Memory: Two Hundred Years Of Silence
People take part in a ceremony at the monument "The Gates of Memory"near the village of Trostenets.
