October 7 marks one year since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, which has added to the challenges that the world has already been facing due to the Russia-Ukraine war. Apart from impacting the supply chains, particularly of food, fuel and fertilisers, these conflicts have led to increasing polarisation in the global order.
Amid these wars, India has emerged as a voice of sanity and is navigating through these crises with deft diplomacy. This article focuses on India’s diplomatic manoeuvring in West Asia and why India’s role is important.
First, it is pertinent to consider how India is skilfully handling the intra-regional complexities of West Asian politics. West Asia has long been a centre of rivalry among various countries for expanding their influence. Engaging with West Asia has been a complicated task that required diplomatic balancing, sometimes bordering on a tightrope walk. The Israel-Hamas war appears to have exacerbated India’s diplomatic challenges. However, India’s approach to the region since the start of this conflict is concomitant to the evolution of its manoeuvring over the last three decades. After establishing diplomatic ties with Israel in 1992, India’s engagements with West Asia witnessed a balancing act between the Gulf countries, Iran and Israel.
While maintaining cordial relations with all the major West Asian powers, India’s engagements with the region recalibrated in the last decade. As the geopolitical construct of the Indo-Pacific Region has gained traction, India’s relations have reflected this development. India’s relationship with West Asia is becoming a part of the engagements in the wider Indo-Pacific Region. Two principal developments complement India’s fresh stand towards West Asia. One, India has successfully diversified its ties with the Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia and the UAE. These two countries are now India’s strategic partners cooperating closely in defence and maritime security. Two, following the Abraham Accords, India can engage more deeply with the Gulf states and Israel without worrying about balancing. The India-Israel-US-UAE (I2U2) initiative is an outcome of the normalisation of Israel’s relations with several Arab countries.
India has displayed diplomatic maturity by enhancing cooperation with Iran. Although India stopped buying oil from Iran due to US sanctions, it considers Iran a significant partner. Despite Iran’s discord with the West, Israel and some Arab countries, India has invested in the Chabahar Port, which would connect India with Afghanistan, Central Asia and Eurasia
While the Israel-Hamas war may have created a temporary discord in Israel’s ties with the Gulf countries, it is unlikely to derail the engagements that began with the Abraham Accords. For its part, India has continued to engage with Israel and the Gulf countries without choosing sides because all the stakeholders have invested a considerable amount of diplomatic capital in their ties with each other and all the sides realise the importance of continuing interaction with each other.
Regarding Iran, India has displayed diplomatic maturity by enhancing cooperation. Although India stopped buying oil from Iran due to US sanctions, it considers Iran a significant partner in the connectivity initiative. Despite Iran’s discord with the West and Israel, as also with some Arab countries, India has invested in developing the Chabahar Port, which would connect India with Afghanistan, Central Asia and Eurasia. In the current conflict as well, India continues to interact with Iran and agreed in May this year to operate Chabahar Port for the next 10 years.
Second, if India is proactively pursuing its interests in West Asia, the countries in the region too have their own stakes in maintaining cordial relations with India.
For Israel, India has rapidly become one of the most important strategic partners. Diplomatically, India’s friendship matters to Israel since several countries around the world have become Israel’s opponents since the start of the war with Hamas last year. India is Israel’s second-largest trading partner in Asia and seventh-largest globally. Cumulative Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows from Israel to India accounted for $314.87 million between April 2000 and March 2024. India’s economic importance for Israel is evident from the doubling of the trade between the two countries from 2018-19 to 2022-23. The India-Israel trade jumped from $5.3 billion in 2018-19 to $10.8 billion in 2022-23.
India has become Israel’s key strategic partner. Israel’s FDI inflows to India accounted for $314.87 million between April 2000 and March 2024. India’s economic importance for Israel is evident from the doubling of the trade between the two countries in five years. The bilateral trade jumped from $5.3 billion in 2018-19 to $10.8 billion in 2022-23
For the Arab countries too, particularly the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries, India is one of the important destinations for their investments. In 2023, investments from the UAE in India were $2.6 billion. Qatar invested $1 billion while Saudi Arabia invested $68 million during the same period. While the status of the Gulf economies as leading oil producers and exporters in the world remains constant, these countries are now planning for a post-oil world order. In this area as well, India is a preferred partner for the Gulf states as these countries are now increasing their engagements with India in the field of renewable energy.
India remains an important partner of Iran despite the United States casting a shadow over the India-Iran relations. Iran, which already had limited navigating options across global platforms due to conflict with the West over the nuclear deal, is now facing even more difficulty in its external engagements due to siding with Hamas in the Israel-Hamas war. India, even with its strong ties with Israel, values Iran as a partner in West Asia. Ties with India provide Iran with an opportunity towards diversifying the latter’s otherwise limited foreign engagements.
Third, India’s role is not just restricted to maintaining balanced relations with West Asia. India’s positive diplomatic outreach to the region would be beneficial for the West as well in the long run. A major development just before the start of the Israel-Hamas war was the announcement of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) during the G20 Summit in New Delhi in September 2023. The IMEC is a major connectivity initiative from India to Europe, which would provide an alternative supply chain route. The importance of the IMEC becomes magnified in the wake of the disruption of several supply chain routes due to the Russia-Ukraine war. For the European countries such as France, Germany, Italy and Greece, the IMEC facilitates their connectivity to the Indo-Pacific Region through the Mediterranean. However, Israel is a crucial link to the smooth operation and functioning of the IMEC. It is pertinent for India as well as the European countries to remain engaged with Israel and to work towards the conclusion of the ongoing conflict.
For the Arab countries, particularly the GCC members, India is one of the significant destinations for their investments. In 2023, investments from the UAE in India were $2.6 billion. Qatar invested $1 billion while Saudi Arabia invested $68 million during this period. The West Asian countries are now planning for a post-oil world order
Along with the Russia-Ukraine war, the Israel-Hamas war too has had a disrupting effect on the global order. However, India has stood out in this polarised atmosphere as a country demonstrating a balanced approach towards this disruption. Having high stakes in West Asia with different entities and being mindful of the complexities of the region, India has been nimble-footed in its approach to remain engaged with all the concerned powers and to protect its strategic and economic interests.
–The writer is an Independent Political Analyst and Researcher based in Vadodara. Follow him on Twitter: @NiranjanMarjani. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
