News - Abhinav Pandya: Best option for India is for North-South transport corridor to pass via Armenia, not Azerbaijan

The best option for India is for the North-South international transport corridor to pass through the territory of Armenia, not Azerbaijan. Dr. Abhinav Pandya, Founder, Director, and CEO of Usanas Foundation think tank based in India, told Armenian News-NEWS.am about this. If the North-South transport corridor passes through the regions controlled by Azerbaijan or Turkey, problems may arise for India in the long run because these two countries have close relations with Pakistan, which until now has blocked the routes leading to European and Russian markets for India, Pandya noted. After the failure of the India-Middle East-Europe corridor project as a result of the Israel-Hamas war, according to the analyst, the North-South project has become even more realistic for India. At the same time, however, the current geopolitical and security situation in the Caucasus region, as per Dr. Abhinav Pandya, also causes challenges, which, however, does not mean that it is not possible to implement the North-South project through the territory of Armenia. In turn, according to Pandya, it will also create security guarantees for Armenia, considerably neutralizing the plans of Azerbaijan and Turkey regarding Syunik Province of Armenia. If you bring major players, such as India, China, and Russia to Syunik with the strategic communications project, and their trade flows through this province, then the region becomes much safer and big investments will be made, the analyst said. And if these huge countries are engaged, it is unlikely that the neighboring countries will attack this area because India’s security will also be put at risk, he added. In order to make the North-South transport corridor a reality, it is necessary for Armenia to finalize the transport infrastructures passing through its territory. Dr. Abhinav Pandya does not rule out that investments can be made from India in the infrastructure projects of Syunik. There are many influential business groups in India he said. If proper lobbying is carried out and proper negotiations are conducted, they will be ready to invest in this area. This will be a profitable area with a large amount of trade. Pandya noted, adding that he does not believe that there are any hindering problems, and the Indians will be ready to invest here. According to the founder of Usanas Foundation think tank, ever since the war in Ukraine, the trade between India and Russia has increased many times, and the North-South corridor has also become very necessary for Russia. Pandya drew attention also to the fact that the Russian side has not expressed a negative position on the delivery of arms to Armenia by India. The Russian side does not have any dissatisfaction or concern in this matter. Despite the fact that Russia's relations with China are developing and deepening, they are not worried that India is getting engaged in the South Caucasus and deepening ties with Armenia, Dr. Abhinav Pandya said.