In the current domestic play on Iran, few will take New Delhi to task for neglecting the Arab Gulf. Would any one ask why six long years have elapsed between Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh’s visit to Saudi Arabia in January 2001 and the one now planned by Pranab Mukherjee? Or, why hasn’t Prime Minister Manmohan Singh found time to visit the Arab Gulf even once in the last three years? When domestic politics envelops a foreign policy debate, facts cease to be important.

By its sheer location, resources, and history, Iran will always be the prize of the Gulf. But until it changes the current internal orientation and finds external harmony, Iran’s relations with India will remain underwhelming.

Many in Washington and New Delhi, for their own particular reasons, will continue to exaggerate the significance of the Indo-Iranian engagement. The absurdity of Indo-US word play on Iran is redeemed, however, by its irrelevance to the new power play in the Gulf.

The writer is professor at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore