The rise of India as a major global power in the past decade has been remarkable, to say the least. The sharp rise in India’s economy, currently counted as the fifth largest global economy and poised to soon become the third largest, is an extraordinary feat considering the fact that it was not too long ago that India was counted among the poor nations in the world. More recently, the manner in which India stood up to the challenge posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and helped not only its own but people across 100 countries, is something that the world is not going to forget soon. Amongst all this, the current year (2023), is also the year of India’s G20 as well as SCO presidency, coming at a crucial time when the world stands divided and split, supporting the Russia-Ukraine conflict from opposing sides. The world is looking to India for leadership to not only mediate a ceasefire but also to propose a long-lasting solution to this conflict.
Many factors internally as well as externally have contributed to India’s growth story. Among the external factors, India’s intensifying ties with the countries in West Asia and especially the Gulf region is a significant factor. There has been an unprecedented boost in political and economic engagement with the Gulf region over the past decade. The traditional buyer-seller relationship (basically focused on energy supplies) has slowly transformed into a strategic engagement. The tone to this was set during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the UAE in August 2015, the first by an Indian prime minister in 34 years. During the visit, the bilateral relationship was elevated to the level of comprehensive strategic partnership. The foundation laid by this visit helped in enhancing the ties with other countries in the region as well. Later, PM Modi visited Saudi Arabia in April 2016, Qatar in June 2016, Oman in February 2018 and Bahrain (the first-ever any Indian PM’s visit to the nation) in August 2019. During the visit of PM Modi to Saudi Arabia in October 2019, both countries decided to upgrade their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership and establish a ‘Strategic Partnership Council’ also.
Acknowledging the importance of the Gulf region, PM Modi described the region as a “home away from home” while addressing the Indian diaspora in the UAE in 2018. Former external affairs minister the late Sushma Swaraj called India the “Janm Bhoomi” and the Gulf region the “Karm Bhoomi” for almost nine million Indians, while addressing the First India-League of Arab States Media Symposium in Delhi in August 2014. Earlier, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too had described the Gulf region as the “natural economic hinterland” of India, while chairing the Trade & Economic Relations Committee (TERC) in July 2005.
Indeed, India and the Gulf region share a special bond and strong civilisational links nurtured over centuries. The idea of India has figured in the imagination of people in the Gulf for centuries. It is not a mere geographical fact or a coincidence that the Arabian Sea links the two regions. It is, in fact, a bridge across which people have discovered common heritage and a rich exchange of ideas, beliefs, customs and language. India’s relations with the Gulf region, however, could not realise the true potential in the early years after independence, especially due to the overhang of their ties and Muslim solidarity with Pakistan. This has changed dramatically over the past decade and especially after the Modi government took charge in 2014.
It may have taken nine years from the time PM Manmohan Singh sought to formulate a ‘Look West’ policy in 2005 to PM Modi announcing the need to ‘Link West’ along with the ‘Look East’ policy in September 2014 but, the pace of engagement thereafter has been extremely rapid. Today, West Asia and especially the Gulf region stand counted as the most trusted and reliable allies of India. While energy imports provide the firm base towards this relationship, the people-to-people contact, trade and the strong personal bond that PM Modi shares with most top leaders in the region add to the flavour of this evolving relationship. The reinvigorated relationship covers diverse fields of engagement; from oil and gas to space, Information Technology, investments, security cooperation and counter-terrorism.
Gulf scholars like Al-Beruni have, in their writings documented Indo-Gulf cultural links in detail. Archaeologists have found evidence of trade links between the Harappan civilisation and that of Dilmun in the Gulf region, right up to Mesopotamia in the North. Many families in the Gulf have the surname al-Hindi while ‘Hind’ is still a popular name among many women there. In India, the cycle of crops which is described as ‘Kharif’ and ‘Rabi’ are Arabic words. Even ‘Monsoon’ originates from the Arabic word ‘Mausam’ meaning season.
The Britishers too saw common links between the two regions. The British established a protectorate over Abu Dhabi in 1820 and conquered Aden in 1839, and administered them as a province of British India. Later on, protectorates were established over Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Dubai, and the other states that today make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Indian Rupee was an accepted legal tender in most Gulf countries till the late 1960s.
Gulf Region- Part of India’s Strategic Outlook
In the Twenty-First Century, as India looks beyond its immediate neighbourhood, West Asia and the Gulf region being in the extended neighbourhood, form a vital part of its strategic outlook. The region provides critical linkages to Asia, Africa and Europe, and is therefore crucial to our national interests. Instability in the region has a direct bearing on the safety and security of millions of Indians working there, energy security and trade-cum-investment relations. From a strategic point of view, therefore, India has vital stakes in the stability, security and economic well-being of the Gulf. The evacuation of Indians from Kuwait in 1990, Yemen in March 2015, Libya in 2011, and Iraq in 2014 are some of the few examples of how any conflict in the region has a direct bearing on India.
The fact that India is a benign power with no extra-territorial ambitions is widely appreciated in the Gulf region and elsewhere. India has always maintained that it is for respective countries to decide their destiny, without any external interference or diktats from outside. This philosophy and the government’s unflinching commitment to sustaining and expanding relations with the Gulf region have helped build stronger ties in recent times.
Trade and Investments- A Sharply Rising Graph
Investment from the Gulf region has steadily increased over the past decade. More than US$ 2.5 billion in FDI from the region has already come into India in various sectors, besides oil and gas sectors. Bilateral trade with the UAE stands at $ 85 billion in the year 2022-23, making the UAE India’s third-largest trading partner. The UAE is also India’s second-largest export destination. Also, with large sums of FDI flows, the UAE is the fourth-largest overall investor in India. The landmark agreement CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) with the UAE signed on 18th February 2022 has laid the foundation for an exponential increase in trade and economic partnership. CEPA aims to increase employment opportunities and bilateral trade in goods to US$ 100 billion in five years and trade in services up to US$ 15 billion and is yet another example of mutual trust and the special bilateral relationship. The UAE has also committed US$ 75 billion to India’s infrastructure sector. ADIA of the UAE has already invested $ 400 million in housing and $ 500 million in renewable energy.
Saudi Arabia too has committed an investment of over US$ 100 billion in India’s infrastructure sector. Saudi Aramco which is Saudi Arabia’s biggest energy company opened an office in Gurugram in October 2017 and signed a deal in April 2018 to build the world’s largest greenfield refinery with West Coast Refinery & Petrochemicals worth US$ 44 billion in a joint venture with ADNOC and an Indian Consortium. In December 2019, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) announced an investment of US$ 450 million to take a 25 per cent stake in Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd. Earlier, in July 2019, QIA announced an investment of US$ 150 million in education App BYJU’S, India.
On the energy front, India successfully renegotiated with Qatar its long-term Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) contracts during our Prime Minister’s visit in June 2016. In addition, in July 2023, ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) and Indian Oil signed a long-term LNG contract for 1.2 million metric tons over a period of 14 years. The UAE is the first country to store strategic oil reserves in India as a result of an agreement between Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL) and ADNOC of the UAE which has invested about US$ 400 million in the project.
It is noteworthy to mention that bilateral trade between India and the Gulf has more than doubled in the last ten years. Overall, the Gulf region is one of the largest trading partners and the bilateral trade has increased to US$ 154.73 billion in FY 2021-22 from US$ 87.4 billion in 2020-21. Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia are our third and fourth largest trading partners. The RuPay card, a key initiative by India in the digital payment system, was launched in Abu Dhabi on 24th August 2019, making the UAE one of the few countries to have such a tie-up with India. This along with the acceptance of the Rupee as a legal tender in the UAE, is a clear proof of close cooperation and trust.
Defence and Security Cooperation
The Gulf region is an integral component of India’s outreach into its extended neighbourhood, and security cooperation forms an important part of it. Strengthening security ties with the region is clearly reflected in the growing defence and security cooperation with the countries of the region. Cooperation with the UAE has been the frontrunner in it. An MoU on cyberspace, signed in January 2017, upgrading security dialogue at the level of NSA as well as an agreement for joint defence production in India and purchase of important military equipment from India (BRAHMOS missile and 155 mm artillery shells) are some of the important agreements with the UAE. India and the UAE also held the first Joint Navy Exercises in Abu Dhabi in March 2018.
With Saudi Arabia, an MoU on defence cooperation was signed during the visit of the then Crown Prince and Defence Minister Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud to India on 27th February 2014. Saudi Arabia, which is one of the largest purchasers of defence equipment globally (over US$ 80 billion annually), has been invited to join the Make-in-India initiative. Saudi Arabia has also agreed to commence joint naval exercises, which are to be later progressed to joint land exercises too. In June 2016, India and Qatar agreed to give impetus to defence ties, including through joint exercises and enhanced training of naval, air and land forces, as also in the area of coastal defence. The MoU on Duqm Port in Oman signed in February 2018 is the first of a kind in the region for India and is an important landmark in India’s regional security cooperation. Continued cooperation with Israel especially on cutting-edge military technologies and talk on revival of security cooperation with Iran too are a positive indicator in India’s security outreach. Indian naval deployment in the anti-piracy operations across the Gulf of Aden and off the coasts of Oman is another reflection of India’s strong commitment to security in the region.
On the threat posed by terror, there has been unanimous acceptance of India’s position and on more than one occasion, the countries in the region have strongly supported India in its fight against terror. Whether it was Uri, Pathankot or Pulwama, each of the Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar have condemned the attacks strongly. In fact, the UAE and Bahrain even supported any action by India to confront, eradicate and fight terrorism, across a range of military, diplomatic, political and economic options to retaliate against Pakistan. There has also been strong support for the adoption of India’s proposed Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism in the UN.
Indian Community- A Glue that Binds
The region hosts an almost 8.5 million-strong Indian expatriate community. The goodwill generated by them through their discipline and hard work contributes immensely to India’s growing ties with the region. They send back remittances in large numbers. In the year 2021-22, of the total US$ 89.7 million received in India, 29 per cent came from the Gulf region itself. India’s cultural footprint in the Gulf region too has greatly expanded in the past few years. Consequent to the recognition of 21st June as the International Day of Yoga by the UN, celebrations of Yoga Day have become an annual event with Saudi Arabia even recognising it as a sport. India was the Guest of Honour at the prestigious annual Janadriya Cultural Festival in Saudi Arabia in February 2018. In March 2018, India was the ‘Guest of Honour’ at the Abu Dhabi Festival (ADF), which is the UAE’s annual cultural festival. The inauguration of the first Hindu temple in Dubai on 5th October 2022 is an exceptional gesture to the Indian community by the UAE.
Conclusion
India and the Gulf region, which have shared a common heritage in the past, have come a long way in reviving the relationship in the modern era. As India grows into a reckonable global economic and political power, the Gulf region will form an important part of India’s global matrix. For India, the Gulf region has evolved into a steady and stable long-term partner, sensitive to its concerns (especially terror) and alive to opportunities to develop further cooperation. This enduring relationship is only set to grow stronger and better in the coming years.
-The writer is an army veteran, a research scholar and analyst on international relations and Assistant Director at MP-IDSA New Delhi. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
