Rouhani blames West for splitting up Muslims as he starts India tour

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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani began his three-day visit to India on Thursday evening with an address to a congregation of Muslim religious leaders in the southern city of Hyderabad, where he held the West responsible for sowing the seeds of discord among the various sects of Islam.

Rouhani will meet Indian Prime Minister in New Delhi on Saturday, when both sides are expected to sign an array of agreements, including a deal that would grant New Delhi the rights to run operations at the strategic Chabahar Port in Iran’s eastern coast.

In his 30-minute speech in Hyderabad to scholars from different Islamic schools of thought, Rouhani called for unity between the Shiite and the Sunni sects of Islam while describing the Hindu-majority India as a “shining example of peaceful coexistence of different religions, faiths and beliefs.”

"India is a living museum of different ethnicities and religions peacefully co-existing. This process has been going on for centuries. Shiites, Sunnis, Sufis, Hindus, Sikhs and others are living together. They together built their country and built their civilization," Rouhani said in his speech in Persian.

'West created extremists'

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani greets Muslim leaders and scholars after a meeting in Hyderabad, India, on February 15, 2018. /Reuters Photo

The Iranian president blamed the West for creating and instigating various “takfiri” outfits – a term frequently used by Tehran to describe extremist groups such as the Islamic State and Al Qaeda – in a bid to divide the Muslim world.

"They (extremist groups) portray themselves as Islamic groups, but we call them “takfiri” (Arabic for infidel or non-believer),” Rouhani attempted to explain, adding that the enemies of Islam were trying to portray it as a religion of violence. “The fact is that Islam is a religion of moderation, tolerance and forgiveness,” he said, extensively quoting from the Quran and the sayings of Prophet Mohammed.

"The Western world has made Muslim countries preoccupied with themselves through creating discord among them," he said, emphasizing that the Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians lived together peacefully for centuries in Iraq and Syria till the West created a split in those countries.

Rouhani argued that just as the West plundered the minerals and other resources of the East during industrialization, it is now trying to plunder their culture and beliefs.

Dialogue, logic and reconciliation

People hold Iranian flags as they wait for the arrival of President Hassan Rouhani at Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad, India, on February 15, 2018. /Reuters Photo

Rouhani stressed that Iran seeks brotherly relations with all the Muslim nations and other countries including India, saying Tehran is at the forefront of efforts being made to end conflict and bloodshed in the region.

"Iran is not seeking any discord with the other Muslim countries [that] have age-old relations with us. We believe that in case of differences, bullet is the not the solution. Dialogue and logic are the tools at our disposal to overcome the differences. There is no military solution. The solution has to be political," the Iranian leader said.

Underlining that Iran was ready to help countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen, Rouhani said: “We want to spread peace and also engage in dialogue while defending our rights. In case of need, we do believe in resistance and steadfastness."

The Iranian president is expected to lead the weekly Friday prayers at the historic Makkah Masjid in Hyderabad before heading to New Delhi, where he will be given a state reception.

Rouhani is also scheduled to meet the Parsi (Zoroastrian) community in New Delhi. The move is viewed as a symbolic gesture of reconciliation as the Parsis fled persecution in Iran hundreds of years ago.

Chabahar, a strategic port

A handout picture provided by the office of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on December 3, 2017, shows a ship bearing various flags parked at Chabahar Port during the inauguration of the first phase in the southern Iranian coastal city of Chabahar. /VCG Photo

Rouhani will meet with the Indian Prime Minister on Saturday, when the two sides are expected to sign about 15 agreements on trade and economic cooperation. The highlight of these agreement will be the one that will allow India to run operations in the first phase of the Chabahar Port project.

“During this visit, documents of cooperation will be signed between [Iranian] government officials and also between entrepreneurs and businessmen who are on this trip and their [Indian] counterparts," Rouhani told reporters in Tehran as he left for India on Thursday.

“Transit [from] Chabahar and India's access to both Afghanistan and central Asia through Chabahar is one of the most important matters when it comes to relations between Iran and India," he added, emphasizing the significance of the project.

India is trying to develop the port of Chabahar on Iran’s east coast as a way to gain access the markets of central Asia as well as Afghanistan by bypassing arch-rival Pakistan. The port is about 72 kilometers from the Pakistani port of Gwadar, which China is developing.

The plan is for India to equip and operate two berths in the port with a capital investment of 85.21 million US dollars on a 10-year lease, according to a Reuters report.

Modi has said the government could spend up to 500 million US dollars on the port, India’s first major overseas port venture. Analysts see it as India’s bid to offer an alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative in building trade and transport links across Asia.

Circumventing sanctions

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani (right) stands next to India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an official welcoming ceremony in Tehran, Iran, on May 23, 2016. /Reuters Photo

Earlier this week, a report from Reuters citing unnamed diplomats said that the Iranian president will seek billions of dollars of Indian investment when he meets Modi, amid growing US pressure to review a 2015 international nuclear deal.

The US has for years imposed international financial sanctions over Tehran, making it difficult for transactions or investment in international currency.

Reuters reported that India is struggling to get equipment such as cranes for Chabahar port because Western banks were not ready to facilitate transactions.

“They don’t want to antagonize the US,” an Indian source involved in the port’s development, but not authorized to speak to the media, told the news agency. “The banks’ American interests are more important ... the moment you mention that the destination is Iran, they don’t come forward.”

In an attempt to circumvent the banking problems caused by the sanctions, India will, for the first time, allow investment in rupees in Iran, The Times of India newspaper reported quoting unnamed sources.

“A rupee-rial arrangement has been allowed by India,” the sources said, adding that the special arrangement has so far been granted [by India] only to Nepal and Bhutan.

The two sides were also trying to narrow differences over a giant gas field that an Indian consortium led by state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp discovered a decade ago, Reuters reported citing unnamed Indian officials.

India wants to develop the Farzad B gas field but Iran says the terms it has offered are not profitable. A delegation from Iran’s Pars Oil and Gas Company is holding talks.

“Connectivity, energy trade and culture are the key pillars of President Rouhani’s visit,” sources told The Times of India. Modi and Rouhani have met twice – once at Ufa and again in Tehran. Iran is one of India’s top suppliers of crude.

Both leaders are also expected to discuss the latest regional and global developments.

(With input from agencies)

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