Back to roots: India, the Arabian Gulf and the reemergence of West Asia

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar marks a significant chapter in India's evolving relationship with the Arabian Gulf. 

Since he assumed office as a prime minister in 2014, Modi has visited the region more than 14 times, and the inauguration of a BAPS temple — a Hindu denomination — in Abu Dhabi symbolizes a shift from relative neglect to active engagement. Building personal connections with Gulf leaders has proven instrumental in fostering stronger ties between India and the region. Having engaged exclusively in commercial relations, India now engages in a broader strategic dialogue with the Middle East through its partnership in the India-Israel-US-UAE (I2U2) group, the France-India-UAE trilateral and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). This engagement repositions the relationship between South Asia and the Middle East, envisioning them as a larger, interconnected region, which I term "West Asia."

These three minilateral formats — the I2U2, the France-India-UAE trilateral and the IMEC — represent an emerging structure of a Delhi-Abu Dhabi axis that reflects a broader strategic alignment stretching beyond West Asia into the Indo-Pacific. Both India and the UAE share a vision for a multipolar world in which they are free to chart a course that does not require adherence or allegiance to one side in a bipolar order. However, the Delhi-Abu Dhabi axis is not merely a manifestation of the shared diplomatic and economic interests between the two nations. Both India and the UAE display appreciation for each other’s unique sociocultural traditions — again, as evidenced by the inauguration of the BAPS Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi. Such sociocultural ties have been maintained over the years by the large Indian diaspora present in the UAE and across the Gulf in general. 

A Gulf security partner?