This is a balance between the US and BRICS, in itself is the hardest nut to crack. As Beijing admits in no uncertain terms, "BRICS faces the risk of retrogressive, rather than progressive, cooperation because of new, intricate circumstances."
Talk about a diplomatic euphemism for the ages. And this as Washington will go no holds barred to contain China behind the First Island Chain in the South China Sea while there's not much Delhi can do to contain Myanmar providing Beijing with total access to the Indian Ocean via Pipelineistan, ports and high-speed rail.
Meet INSTCStronger security linkages with BRICS nations. NSA Doval chairs meeting of NSAs in Delhi in runup to @ BRICS2016
Vikas SwarupAt the next BRICS summit in Goa next month, some of these geopolitical intricacies will be quietly discussed behind closed doors. BRICS may be in disarray, with Brazil under regime change, Russia under sanctions and India flirting with the US. But BRICS remains committed to serious institutional moves, such as the New Development Bank (NDB), the push towards trading in their own currencies and a multi-pronged politico/economic drive towards a multi-polar world.
This drive is graphically in effect when we examine one of the key -- unreported - Eurasian integration stories; the symbiosis between India and Iran. Delhi counts on Tehran to up its game as an economy propelled by natural gas as well as profiting in the long run from the perfect -- Persian -- gateway to Central Asian markets.
The key hub of course is the port of Chabahar. The highlight of a Modi visit to Tehran four months ago was a Chabahar contract between India Ports Global Private Limited and Arya Banader of Iran. That's about "development and operation for 10 years of two terminals and five berths with cargo handling."
There's way more; development of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and essential road/rail links from Iran to Afghanistan and further into Central Asia. India will then have direct access to Afghanistan, bypassing Pakistan. It does not hurt that Delhi and Kabul are already strategic partners.
Chabahar is only 500 km east of the ultra-strategic Strait of Hormuz.
In the near future, we might as well see a configuration where the Indian Navy has the right to use Chabahar while the Chinese Navy has the right to use Gwadar, in Pakistan, only 150 km by sea east of Chabahar. Nothing that BRICS dialogue -- or the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) -- could not keep on smooth sailing mode.
For Iran, this is a certified "win-win" game. Iran not only will be connected to the Chinese One Belt, One Road (OBOR); but it will also solidify yet another trade/transportation corridor in Eurasia; the International North-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC) between the Indian Ocean and Central Asia. Key INSTC members happen to be Iran, India and... Russia. Talk about, once again, the interpenetration of BRICS and the SCO.
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