On 1 February 2023, Research Fellow Gu Zhenglong, Director of the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, published an opinion piece on 'India's Growing Strategic Interest in the Middle East' on CFISNET, which reads as follows.
India's Growing Strategic Interest in the Middle East
The Middle East, which has become increasingly important to India in recent years, along with the Arab states' desire to diversify their military and political relations with the rising Asian power, has led India to vigorously promote partnerships with Arab states in many new areas. In addition, the Middle East is expected to become an increasingly strategic arena of great power competition once again in the coming years. India, under Modi's leadership, will therefore adopt more effective policies to strengthen its influence and partnerships in the region and become an influential global power.
The Middle East, and in particular the Gulf Arab region, has become increasingly important to India in recent years and is considered a pillar of its strategy. Since Narendra Modi was elected Prime Minister of India, he has actively promoted and developed India's economic, security and military strategic ties with Middle Eastern countries. As India is largely dependent on the Middle East for its energy sources and the Arab states are keen to diversify their military and political relations with the rising Asian power, India has consequently made a strong push for bilateral relations with the Arab states, as evidenced by the frequent exchange of visits between Indian and Arab leaders, the most recent of which was the visit of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to New Delhi on 25 January, which was Sisi's The main topic of his visit to New Delhi was the development of trade, the economy and the expansion of military and security cooperation between the two countries.
Topics of focus
In an article published on 26 January 2023 by the Arab World Strategic Analysis and Research think tank in Cairo, Egypt, it was noted that India's strategy towards the Middle East has become more focused on expanding partnerships in many new areas in order to achieve sustained economic growth and its ambition to transform itself from a middle power in the international system to a world power. The most prominent of these areas are as follows.
1. Strengthening space cooperation between India and the UAE. New Delhi looks to become one of the world's leading space powers and hopes to strengthen bilateral space cooperation with a number of countries in the Middle East. In his opening remarks at the Global Space Dialogue Conference held in Abu Dhabi on 5-6 December last year, India's Minister of State for Space, Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh, emphasised that the Abu Dhabi Global Space Dialogue Conference is A global platform of events whose outcomes will be presented to the world and will help the world to provide solutions to the many challenges facing the space sector. He added that the UAE is an important country in the space sector and has a prominent position as a player in this field due to the great achievements and success of its research project Exploring Mars and the UAE Astronauts.
2. Signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Saudi Arabia on Renewable Energy. India is the third largest producer of renewable energy in the world, the fourth largest producer of wind energy and the fifth largest producer of solar energy. Strengthening cooperation on renewable energy between India and the Arab countries has become one of the key pillars of the partnership.
In this context, India's Minister of Trade and Industry, Piyush Goyal, visited Saudi Arabia on 19 September last year to participate in a meeting of the Economic and Investment Committee of the Saudi-India Strategic Partnership Committee, which covered several issues specialising in energy, agriculture, food security, information technology, industry, etc. The meeting took a number of procedural steps. A number of procedural steps were taken, including the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for 24 studies in the field of renewable energy between the Indian Research Centre and the King Abdullah Research Centre in Saudi Arabia.
3. Continued coordination with Egypt in the fight against terrorism. Given India's proximity to the Middle East, India is increasingly interested in the efforts of regional countries to combat terrorism. During his visit to India, Egyptian President Sisi signed an agreement to strengthen cooperation in the fight against terrorism and violence, based on the conviction that Egypt and India believe that there can be no development without security and stability. On 8 January this year, the Indian authorities announced the arrest of two members of the Islamic State group with links to terrorists in Syria.
4. Develop bilateral relations with Syria. In recent years, India has been in contact with the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, and diplomatic relations and a number of cooperation projects between the two countries have not been interrupted. India has expressed its willingness to cooperate economically for reconstruction projects in Syria. During the visit of the Foreign Minister of the Syrian Arab Republic to India on 18 November last year, Indian Vice President Jagdeep Dhanhal expressed New Delhi's willingness to cooperate with Syria in areas such as renewable energy, machinery and fertilizers, civil aviation and vocational training.
Due to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Syria, the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance has been increasing from 14.6 million to an estimated 15.3 million this year. India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ruchira Kamboi, announced on 22 December last year that New Delhi would provide US$280 million to the Syrian regime for the construction of a power plant and a steel mill in Syria. The Russian-Ukrainian war and the New Crown epidemic have caused an increase in the price of food and medicine, and India has from time to time sent food and medicine to Syria.
5. Humanitarian aid to Palestine. On 22 July and 31 October last year, the Government of India donated $2.5 million to the United Nations Relief Services for Palestine Refugees to provide education, health care, mine clearance and community services to Palestinian refugees. Since 2018, New Delhi has provided $20 million in assistance to Palestinian refugees. Last December, India held the rotating presidency of the Security Council and reiterated its support for direct negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and the Government of Israel on the provision of education, health care, mine clearance and community services to the Palestinian population, and emphasised discussions on all issues such as a final settlement as the best mechanism to achieve a two-state solution.
6. Support Algeria in international organisations. India's Ambassador to Algiers, Golav Ahlawalia, said in a statement on 16 January this year that on 21 February 2022, in view of Algeria's support for India's non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council, India will also support Algeria's non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council on 24 February 2025. On 7 November last year, New Delhi expressed its support for Algeria's membership of the BRICS countries following its formal application for membership. It is understood that BRICS is currently discussing the criteria for joining and that its membership will be open.
Active diplomacy
The Middle East is expected to once again become an arena of great power rivalry and increasing strategic importance in the coming years. India, under Modi's leadership, will therefore adopt more effective policies to strengthen its influence and partnerships in the region and become an influential global power.
India is currently the third largest consumer of energy after the United States and China. It is well known that the US and China will not allow the region's energy supplies to be threatened. Therefore, in order to preserve the stability of the region and prevent new conflicts from breaking out in the region, countries must deal with extremist and terrorist activities. This is also a strategic consideration for India to safeguard its interests in the Middle East in the coming years.
Source: CFISNET
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author or the interviewees and do not represent the position of this research institution)
