Sunday, 13 Oct, 2024
Popularly dubbed the 'West Asian Quad', i2u2 makes perfect sense for India
India had a disastrous relationship with United States and the Middle East countries. Thanks to New Delhi's tilt towards Soviet Union during the cold war era, India found itself on the other side of the road on diplomatic fronts. From Kashmir to Pakistan, India would seldom find support from the west and gulf countries. The latter had supported Pakistan in the 1965 and 1971 wars (US going to the extent of sending nuclear warships).
Switch to 2022, and things have dramatically change. New Delhi's relationship with Washington is at its peak. Trade volumes and cultural exchanges are at the highest levels. Same is for the gulf countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking at the first ever I2U2 (India, Israel, United States and United Arab Emirates) summit on Thursday is a testimony of the story.
India and West Asian Quad
Popularly dubbed the 'West Asian Quad', i2u2 makes perfect sense for India. The Gulf has always been important, and oil rich UAE with as many as 3.5 million Indian working there makes an excellent partner for outreach to the region. UAE is also India’s third-largest trade partner and second-largest export destination with bilateral trade touching $72 billion in FY 2021-22. Both the countries recently signed the historic free trade agreement.
Bilateral relations between India and Israel is a multifaceted affair raging from defense partnership to technology. From minuscule $200 million trade volume in 1992 (comprising primarily of diamonds), merchandise trade diversified and reached US$ 6.35 billion (excluding defense) by 2022 with the balance of trade being in India’s favour. Israel is India’s second-largest weapons supplier, with current annual sales amounting to more than $1bn.
Understanding Washington’s agenda
For Washington, i2u2 accrues many advantages. It ensures American presence in the Gulf, and not leave the space clear for China and Russia grab businesses, gets Israel more international legitimacy and recognition and bring the Arabs and the Israelis under one banner. To this end, Biden is emulating his predecessor under whom the historic Abraham Accords was signed between Israel and UAE. The White House is looking to boost the acceptability of Israel among its Gulf neighbours. With India in the group, US seeks to place New Delhi more firmly as an alternative pole in the Indian Ocean region.
The I2U2 is aimed to “encourage joint investments” in six mutually identified areas such as water, energy, transportation, space, health, and food security. The grouping will also look to modernise infrastructure, explore low carbon development avenues for industries, improve public health, and promote the development of critical emerging and green technologies.
India and changing gulf dynamics
Despite being pro-Palestine in its political stance and by maintaining a pro-Palestine voting record at the UN, India has managed to maintain ties with Israel. And the deep bond between New Delhi and Tel Aviv never affected UAE's view towards India. That's how it held its head high in the choppy waters of the Persian Gulf. Now, thanks to the Abraham Accords, the changing political landscape in the Middle East provides fertile ground for further strengthening its ties with without fear of jeopardizing its relations with its other allies in the region.
