\n<\/p>\n
Speaking to Republic World, Bakshi described the recent understanding reached in Mecca among Ankara, Riyadh and Islamabad as the formation of a new regional bloc that India must treat seriously. \u201cA Sunni NATO comprising Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan has been established in the Middle East, in Mecca, and that is a serious cause for concern,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
From New Delhi\u2019s viewpoint, he argued, Iran remains an indispensable counterweight to Pakistan. \u201cWe very much need Shi\u2019ite Iran to be on our side because Pakistan is our primary security headache. China may be the main threat, but together with it, Pakistan is our biggest security headache,\u201d Bakshi stated.<\/p>\n
He drew a sharp comparison between how Israel views Iran and how India views Pakistan. \u201cIran does not have even a single nuclear bomb, and yet it is perceived as an existential threat to Israel. And what about Pakistan? A fundamentalist, jihadist Islamic state that possesses 180 nuclear warheads,\u201d he claimed. <\/p>\n
He added that Israel has shown little equivalent anxiety about Pakistan\u2019s arsenal: \u201cWe have not seen Israel losing sleep over the bombs in Pakistan\u2019s hands because they are considered a threat only to India.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bakshi pointed to concrete evidence of Turkish-Pakistani military cooperation during India\u2019s Operation Sindoor, asserting that Turkey provided nearly 1,000 drones and assistance in operating them. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis was already a \u2018Sunni NATO,\u2019 with or without an agreement. Turkey and Pakistan are already in an undeclared practical alliance,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
He also noted that Turkey dispatched a warship to Karachi during the same period, underscoring the closeness of the security relationship. While acknowledging that \u201cTurkey has the largest army in NATO,\u201d Bakshi questioned its ability to intervene directly in a South Asian conflict because of geography. <\/p>\n
Any Turkish naval force, he said, would have to sail through the Mediterranean and Arabian seas\u2014where \u201cThe Indian Navy can tear apart any Turkish armada that tries to come to Pakistan\u2019s aid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turning to India-Israel relations, Bakshi was unambiguous. India values its partnership with Israel, he said, but will not subordinate its own interests. \u201cI am afraid that at some point Israel will also have to be sensitive to Indian concerns,\u201d he declared. \u201cWe are not the 51st state of the United States, and for that matter we are also not an appendage or client state of Israel. We are friends, certainly. But vassals? No, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n
He rejected any expectation that India should sever ties with Iran at Israel\u2019s request. \u201cYou cannot simply whistle and make our senior leaders go here and there, and ask us to sacrifice our interests,\u201d Bakshi said. \u201cYou cannot tell us: Throw Iran away because you are at war with it. When it comes to Iran, you cannot ask us to sacrifice our interests.\u201d<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s value to India, he emphasized, is both economic and geostrategic. It offers access to discounted oil that can be refined in India and re-exported, and it provides critical overland routes. \u201cIran provides India with the land bridge to Central Asia and the land bridge to Afghanistan, and these are of vital importance to us.\u201d Closing those corridors because of the Israel-Iran conflict is not an option: \u201cWe cannot close these land routes because Israel is at war with Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bakshi\u2019s overall message was that India-Israel friendship remains important, yet it has clear limits when core security and economic interests are at stake. Against the backdrop of closer Turkey-Pakistan coordination and the specter of a broader Sunni alignment, he suggested that India\u2019s relationship with Iran is growing more, not less, essential.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: The Greek Firepower Set to Counter Turkey\u2019s Marine Parks<\/strong>.<\/p>\n