First, it threatens to sabotage India’s energy-import diversification strategy by making it overly dependent on the Islamist-bankrolling oil monarchies – including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar – which have managed to ride out the Arab Spring. Second, further isolation of Iran will make it very difficult for India to play a more active role in Afghanistan at a time when the US is hastening its military disengagement there and seeking to cut a deal with the Taliban.