India is emerging as a “major power” in the Middle East, and it is time to take New Delhi’s projection of power in the region seriously, read an article in Foreign Policy, a US-based magazine on global affairs.
The author, Steven A Cook, cited one of his previous visits to India after which he said he was skeptical about a future Indian role in the Middle East.
“India and Middle Eastern countries were already intertwined in various ways, of course. There were budding military and technology ties between India and Israel. One could not travel in the Persian Gulf region without noticing that guest workers from the Indian state of Kerala provided the labor that made many of the Gulf countries run. India also imported a lot of oil from the Middle East. Yet after my conversations with officials, diplomats, generals, and analysts, it struck me that Indians did not want to play a larger role in the Middle East,” he wrote in the piece.
However, he said he believed that things have changed now and India was emerging as a major player in the Middle East.
“In the 10 years since my trip, however, things have changed. While US officials and analysts are obsessed with every diplomatic move Beijing makes and eye Chinese investment in the Middle East with suspicion, Washington is overlooking one of the most interesting geopolitical developments in the region in years: the emergence of India as a major player in the Middle East,” Cook stated.
He added that India-Israel ties are, perhaps, the most well-developed when it comes to New Delhi’s relations in the region.
Although India recognized Israel in 1950, the two countries did not establish normal diplomatic ties until 1992. Since then, especially in recent years, they have deepened their ties. In 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first Indian leader to visit Israel, which was followed by his Israeli counterpart traveling to India the following year.
“Beyond the pomp of these visits, India-Israel ties have rapidly developed in a variety of fields, notably high-tech and defense,” he said.
Citing Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Cook stated that Israel was among India’s top three arms suppliers in 2021, and recent Indian news reports indicate that the two countries are exploring the coproduction of weapons systems.
Also in the past, India’s business community shied away from investing in Israel, given the country’s small market and controversial politics (to many in India), but that may be changing, he added.
“In 2022, the Adani Group and an Israeli partner won a tender for Haifa Port for 1.2 billion USD. There are also ongoing negotiations for an India-Israel Free Trade Agreement. Of course, the India-Israel relationship is complicated. India remains steadfast in its support for the Palestinians; has friendly ties with Iran, from which New Delhi has purchased significant amounts of oil; and Indian elites tend to see Israel through the prism of their country’s own colonial experience,” he added.
Cook further stated that the Gulf, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia were aggressively seeking ways to expand relations with India, which is a significant shift because both countries, but particularly the latter, have long aligned with Pakistan.
Source ANI
