Looming crisis in West Asia?

By Sudhanshu Tripathi

West Asia or Middle East is once again passing through grave dangers due to emerging Riyadh-Washington-Tel Aviv axis in the wake of Iran’s aggression over Riyadh oil infrastructures recently. Evidently, the consequent scenario in West Asia is becoming increasingly grim as it continues to be the burning cauldron, thereby suffering the trauma and agony of macabre violence and terrorism for long decades in the past.

Unfortunately the US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has added fire into the fury, following the American President Trump who had already threatened Teheran of serious consequences. The Saudi Arabian has already shown the debris of Iran’s armaments as its military spokesman Col. Turki al-Malki has displayed the remains of Teheran’s cruise missiles and drones being used in these strikes on Riyadh’s oil establishments.

And that raises serious alarms which may lead to beginning of counter-moves by Riyadh’s military establishment to launch retaliatory attacks over Teheran. This will, if it happens, obviously further polarize the boiling region into Shia-Sunni conflict and other sectarian struggles, extending into entire Muslim world, despite their intense mutual bickering.

The resultant scenario will evidently invite the US and the erstwhile USSR’s successor Russia, besides other major powers as they must exploit the resulting imbroglio by fishing into troubled waters in their own respective interests. Because they have their massive investments in the region for extracting its natural gas and crude oil to sustain their respective economies in the face of mounting energy crises.

Further the unfortunate consequences will evidently attract global terror networks too, like Islamic State, J-e-M, Lasher-e Tayyiba, besides many other global terror organizations operating from Pakistan including Talibanis in Afghanistan and many others like ISIS, Hamas etc. already terrorizing the region and the whole world. As these terror networks have their sole objective to establish an Ummah – a global communion of only faithful Muslims – in the world and eliminate all others as non-faithfuls or Kafirs.

Hence, there is the need of perpetuating world-wide jihad – a kind of religious war – to secure a Muslim World, as they are committed to accomplish. It is, perhaps, the worst extension of the earlier existing caliphate system in the global Muslim world. As regards India, the tense scenario has already led to result into steep hike in the prices of crude oil and gas accompanied by increasing pressure on the country’s economy and resultant energy security.

As the region provides various opportunities to many Indians by providing them employment and other business facilities, who, thereby, transfer considerable amount of money into India and thus help-consolidate the national economy and infrastructure. Also security and well-being of these Indians is the most important concern for the country because they will suffer all risks and threats to their lives and property, should the situation worsens there in the region.

Hence, India being a founder member of Non-aligned Movement and also enjoying considerable influence in the region as a peace-loving and non-violent country, must come forward to provide all kind of cooperation in resolving the tensions between the two.

As West Asia is the extended part of the whole Asian continent, both India and the regional partners here can act in a constructive way to ensure peace and security for the entire region. Because both of them have several cultural, religious, geo-political similarities or commonalities between them, they can easily interact and cooperate with each other with this view in hand.

Thus, the obvious need is to ensure immediate removal of mutual suspicions between the two prominent members of the West Asian region. It is, therefore, essential for both the US and Russia and all other major powers to shun their undue interference, thereby complicating the prevailing grave complex situation in the region.

Instead of inciting their fratricidal feelings and worsening the ongoing tense situation, these external powers must contribute their good offices to ease all tensions between Teheran and Riyadh and, thus save the world from unnecessary sufferings as the international community is already facing several tensions, particularly escalating oil prices and macabre terrorism. This may happen as nothing is beyond human endeavour.

Prof. Sudhanshu Tripathi, U.P. Rajarshi Tandon Open University, Prayagaraj (UP)