Initiatives by India to Strengthen ‘Think West’ Policy

Palestine

  • Infrastructure: A traditional supporter of Palestinian independence, India has been extending financial support for its reconstruction, development, and institution building.
  • Alliance: Palestine, which has turned away from a United States-led mediation, now counts on India to support a multi-country mechanism to realise the two-state solution. India stressed the importance of dialogue as opposed to violence, assuring Palestine that “India is bound by a promise to take care of Palestinian peoples’ interests”. Six new agreements worth nearly $50 million in areas such as health, agriculture, information technology and education were signed during the visit of Prime Minister of India in 2018.
  • Support to Palestine Issue: India’s proximity to the Palestinian cause was not only historical but also strategic, as India is home to the second-largest Muslim population in the world (after Indonesia) and, of course, because India depended and still depends on Arab countries for nearly 60 per cent of its energy supplies. Palestine is also grateful to India for joining the majority in the UN vote against the Trump administration’s move on Jerusalem.

The United Arab Emirates

  • Strategic Partnership: In Feb 2018, Prime Minister of India paid second visit to UAE, highlighting the seriousness with which he is pursuing the Look West policy in the near neighbourhood. Home to nine million Indians, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has emerged as a strategically and commercially important region for India.
  • Trade: Prime Minister’s vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and developing the blue economy with littorals in the Indian Ocean requires strong partnerships. Equally, a developing India has emerged as an important market for the Gulf oil economies, their aviation companies, a provider of appropriate and cheaper technology and human resources, resulting in enhanced accommodation on issues such as labour rights, technology transfer, and cooperation in counter terrorism.
  • Multipronged Approach: The joint statement reiterated the intention to hold the first-ever joint naval exercises in the Persian Gulf, deplored terror and stressed the responsibility of all states to control “non-State actors” operating from their soil, a pointed reference to Pakistan. Indian PM addressed the Indian community at the Dubai Opera House and witnessed the ground-breaking ceremony of the first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi (2018).

Oman

  • Sweeping Alliances: Indian naval ships regularly visit Salalah and Duqm for operational turnaround while engaging in anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. Cooperation in trade and investment, energy, defence and security, food security and regional issues were discussed resulting in eight agreements in the military, legal and judicial cooperation, health, tourism and outer space sectors. While Adani Ports and Duqm Special Economic Zone Authority already signed an agreement in 2017, India would also like to use Duqm for logistics purposes.
  • Strategic Significance: India and Oman finalized an agreement that will see India gain access to the strategically located port of Duqm, on Oman’s southern coast. The port sits on the north-western edge of the Indian Ocean and also provides easy access onward into the Red Sea through the Gulf of Aden. The Indian Navy will be able to use the port for logistics and support, allowing it to sustain long-term operations in the western Indian Ocean, a hotspot for piracy in the area.

Israel

  • Demarcation between Israel and Palestine: Having taken a stand on Jerusalem, India has rightly now decided to de-hyphenate the relations with Israel and Palestine. Palestine recently demonstrated its resolve to continue its bond with India by recalling its ambassador to Pakistan, Waid Abu Ali for sharing the dais with Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan.
  • Close Relations between PMs: Relations between India and Israel have never been better and the chemistry between India and Israeli Prime Minister is stronger than ever.
  • Visit to Israel: Narendra Modi became the first Indian PM to visit Israel and, he received Netanyahu in his home town of Ahmedabad, India. The two visits show how far the bilateral relationship between India and Israel has come and how far behind India’s relationship with Palestine has been left.
  • Free Trade Agreement in Process: Both countries are also looking to commence talks on a Free Trade Agreement which is expected to propel bilateral trade over the US$10-billion mark in the short term—again this is expected to be led by the defence sector, which is reportedly already in the process of clearing US$13 billion worth of procurement deals.

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