India’s outreach to the key region shows results
The upcoming visit of four royals from West Asia to India, starting with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani in December, demonstrates the region’s renewed thrust to build strategic and economic ties with New Delhi. It is by now clear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's thrust, which includes high-level political and diplomatic visits to these nations in the last two years, is paying rich dividend gradually. West Asia, a traditional ally of Pakistan, has shown deep interest in re-orienting its focus towards India. It must be recounted here that some of the nations in the region like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain, not only condemned the Uri attack, but also offered full support to India's surgical strikes on terror camps across the line of Control.
At around the same time, news media reported that both the “UAE and Bahrain have in their statements, supported any action by India to confront, eradicate and fight terrorism”. Thus, in a way, some of the potential powers of West Asia and the members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), directly backed India in its mission to tame the Pakistan-sponsored Islamist terror network, which has its origins in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and in the camps along the International Border. All of this points towards the fact that Prime Minister Modi's proactive diplomacy has helped India realign its ties with resource-rich nations of West Asia and the OIC, unlike the previous decade when the UPA Government’s balancing act hardly brought any result. On the other hand, India gaining strong foothold in this region, bears special significance for the emerging global power calculations at a time when China is fast expanding its influence across oil-rich nations. India's active presence in West Asia can help in heralding a multi-polar world order in the long run, as this region has become a global war theatre for some time now.
Sources in the media have said that the Qatari Prime Minister is all set to finalise the bilateral investment protection and double taxation avoidance agreement with New Delhi during his visit. Qatar's continued interest in India was displayed by its Emir, who became the first leader from the Gulf countries, to be received by the NDA Government in March 2015. With the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan scheduled to grace the 2017 Republic Day celebrations, India’s stock among West Asian countries is high — and poised to rise even more. As the Crown Prince is slowly working for his country's future beyond traditional dependence on the oil economy, India can position itself as a nation that can contribute to the development of the UAE. Again, the arrival of the Saudi monarch and the Jordanian King early next year, means India's engagement with all these four nations and many more have begun yielding rich benefits back home, even as New Delhi tightens its relationship with Israel and Iran at the same time. As all of them are constantly facing global terror threats from the Islamic State, and are, therefore, inclined to be long and trusted partners for India in the latter's prolonged fight against terrorism. India should not miss the opportunity in furthering its relations with the vital powers of West Asia.
