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"We need to get the whole of West Asia together in an open, continued process"

Atul Aneja

Bahrain's Foreign MinisterShaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifaon the crisis in Iran, the Iraq situation, the Arab-Israeli dispute, and the region's expectations from India.

— FILE PHOTO: AP

Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa: "India should help us stabilise the region."

Bahrain's Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa is part of a new generation of Arab leaders who approach the problems of the day with clarity of thought, self-confidence, and pragmatism. The Minister's visit to India, along with Bahrain's Crown Prince Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, beginning on Tuesday, comes at a time when West Asia is experiencing serious challenges to its economic and social stability. The situation greatly affects India, which depends on the region to meet its energy demands. Excerpts from an interview:

What role can India play to ease the current tensions in West Asia?

We look at India as an important if not the most important player in the region. We look at India as a stable democracy, as a developing giant [that can] help its neighbours, especially the neighbours that enjoy a very friendly relationship with it like Bahrain. India should help us stabilise the region and take it away from all the dangers that we are facing today.

We are, at this point of time, looking at three major flashpoints in the region — the crisis in Iraq, the tensions over Iran, and the Arab-Israeli dispute over Palestine. Overlapping these are sectarian tensions involving Sunnis and Shias. How can India, as part of the larger international diplomacy in the region, contribute to resolving these crises?

India has a definite role in the Iranian nuclear issue. India can really play a role in persuading Iran not to adopt a confrontational approach.

Tensions are mounting over Iran, especially following the U.S. military build-up in the Gulf, which includes the deployment of two aircraft carriers. How close are we to a war?

Hopefully there would be no war because we all realise that war is really catastrophic. Iran is a very important and large country in the region. War we think is a remote option and do not see it happening. However, we have told the Iranians — on your side you have to be more constructive. Everybody will support you on your nuclear project for peaceful purposes. What we need is full transparency. If Iran is fully transparent, then there is no basis for any country to put pressure. Frankly, there is a lot of mistrust.

How do we build trust? Was the Baghdad dialogue where the Iranians and Americans met face to face a good starting point?

I don't think much happened [during the dialogue] in Iraq. It was limited only to the security of Iraq. We would definitely want to see an expanded dialogue to include the region, Iran, the United States along with the rest of the permanent members of the Security Council, India, Turkey, Egypt, and the United Nations. They all have to come to an understanding on how the region has to be secured. Otherwise we are not going anywhere. Face to face [talks between the Iranians and the Americans] may not take us anywhere. We need to get the whole region together in an open, continued process — and not just a conference here or there. In other words, we need to develop an open mechanism for peace and security.

Just to clarify, would you like to see India part of a new mechanism that addresses the problems of the region collectively?

Absolutely. And I am sure India thinks that way. In my talks in the past with Indian officials, I sensed that. India is part of our region and an important player.

Sectarianism has emerged as a major threat to the region. How significant was Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Saudi Arabia to address this question?

We perceive these talks as very important. Iran and Saudi Arabia are two major countries in the Gulf facing each other. One of them is mostly Sunni and the other is Shia. We have a Sunni-Shia conflict in Iraq and we can feel the heat in Bahrain, which has both Sunnis and Shias. However, this dialogue should not be compartmentalised — that is, Iranians should talk only to the Shias and the Saudis should only talk to the Sunnis.

In your view, how significant was the Makkah accord that has resulted in the formation of a Palestinian national unity government involving the Hamas and Fatah?

First of all, this government [the Palestinian national unity government] has received support from the European Union. We also do not feel that the United States is opposing this government. They [the Americans] would, however, want to wait and to see actions. This is because the agreement that was reached did not say that the Hamas would exactly and squarely adhere to the three principles of the Quartet — recognition of Israel, renunciation of violence, and acceptance all agreements and milestones reached between Arabs and Israelis.

The Hamas said at Makkah that it would be ready to "respect" past agreements between the Arabs and the Israelis. Should that not be enough for lifting the embargo on the Palestinians?

As I have said, let us see the actions of this government, see how it will work. If the actions are on the right track, then the sanctions should be lifted.

It has been widely reported that at the upcoming Arab League summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's proposal for normalising relations with Israel that was aired first at the Beirut conference in 2002 would once again be the focus of attention. Is that correct?

We never buried it [the Beirut declaration], but it has always been refused, always been unaccepted. But now, we are hearing very important statements from the Israeli side. But, before going into details about what is acceptable and not acceptable, let us both agree that this is a peace offer. If we agree that this is a genuine peace offer, then it's okay — we will sit across the table and take enough time to discuss it. Yes, there are points we can disagree — status of Jerusalem, right of return — fine, let us discuss it. For example there are Palestinians who would like to come back to Palestine proper. Then there are Palestinians who do not want to go back, who are well settled around the world. They maybe in neighbouring countries in refugee camps or from Detroit, Michigan or Europe — people who have got naturalised in some other land. I really don't think it is an issue if we take it out from our hearts and look at it with our minds.

Coming back to bilateral relations, India and Bahrain are yet to start a security dialogue despite their joint stake in issues such as extremism and counter terrorism. Can they now hope to institutionalise their security relationship?

I remember during the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Gulf security dialogue in Bahrain last December, Mr. M.K. Naryanan, your national security adviser came from India. He said that we should really embark on that dialogue.

So during this visit of the Crown Prince, we wish to give a real push towards that dialogue, for that constant contact. We see the beginning of a security dialogue with India pivotal and vital.

Could you elaborate on the economic potential between India and Bahrain?

We look at India as an important partner in our effort to open up towards the world. Information Technology is an important sector. Besides, several Indian companies can offer value added services. Business services such as legal services, consultancy services, accounting services and many others of that sort have a huge potential. I hope one day we can discuss a Free Trade Area (FTA) agreement which is really what we need. We are keen and ready to go ahead with India and I have talked about this with other Foreign and Finance Ministers [of the GCC] and everybody is keen to reach that level of trade relationship with India.

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"We need to get the whole of West Asia together in an open, continued process"

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