Modi looks West? Assessing change and continuity in India’s Middle East policy since 2014

Blarel, Nicolas

doi:10.1057/s41311-021-00314-3

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Both countries show their desire for a strategic alliance that includes long-term investments in India through a prism of trade, investment, and technology. Nevertheless, the Modi government's domestic political agenda, and especially policies are still seen as discriminatory towards the Muslim minority, which has gradually been criticized by civil society within the West Asian countries and Gulf states (Blarel, 2022). No matter how strong the relationship is between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, it is still connected by a very weak thread, which can snap at any time if it hurts their religious sentiment of Muslim nations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

India’s relations with Saudi Arabia and UAE under the Modi Government

Kumar

2023

MJIR

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India is home to the third-largest Muslim population, any internal policy changes affect Muslim voters including bilateral relations with neighbours and Gulf countries. Despite, several criticisms, the Modi government gained some objections over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Population Register (NPR), and National Register of Citizens (NRC) issues at the national level. Nonetheless, the government has regained a second term in India. Modi's foreign policies not only made a new high in the bilateral relationship with Islamic countries in the Gulf, but amicability had changed significantly. Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE in West Asia are rebuilding a new friendship era with India. After the decline of oil demand from the Western Countries, Gulf countries’ expectations have increased to re-draw their approach towards New Delhi. Retrospectively, it also provided several opportunities from both sides (India and Saudi Arabia-UAE) to boost their ties including a joint naval exercise between the UAE and India, an invitation by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to Sushma Swaraj, the inauguration of a Hindu temple in the UAE by Narendra Modi as well as the Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman visit to New Delhi. These are a few steps from both India and Saudi Arabia-UAE sides to re-energize their relationship. Therefore, this paper discusses how the Modi government despite numerous challenges able to enhance a new era of the bilateral relationship with Saudi Arabia and the UAE. This research extensively covers the aspects of the economic, military, and strategic relationships which include both side visits and MoU.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

India’s relations with Saudi Arabia and UAE under the Modi Government

Kumar

2023

MJIR

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“…India has furthered diplomatic alliances such as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (comprised of the United States, India, Australia, and Japan), the economic forum I2U2 (Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and India), and, under Modi's Arab world rapprochement, has strived to achieve energy security and made conciliatory diplomatic efforts with regards to India's partnership with Israel (Blarel, 2022;Rajagopalan, 2023). India's UNGA abstention marks the start of a new era in its Israel policy, indicating tandem goals of establishing Hindu hegemony and shifting West strategically.…”

Section: The Nature Of Bilateral India-israel Relations Under Modimentioning

confidence: 99%

The Rise of Hindu Nationalism: A Catalyst for India’s Strategic Pivot towards Israel

Duberstein

2024

MSJ

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Hindu nationalism has permanently altered the state of Indian politics, a nation once hailed as the world’s most populous democracy. The alarming erosion of India’s democratic institutions, under the guidance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and India’s longest-serving prime minister, Narendra Modi, holds far-reaching implications for the future of Indian society. The nation’s egalitarian mission is likely of a bygone era. India’s descent into authoritarianism mirrors similar political developments in the State of Israel, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s religiously fundamentalist and ultranationalist coalition. As the two countries enter a new era in their once-obscure partnership, their history of collaboration deserves further exploration. Though India incorporates the world’s largest Muslim minority population, existing research has not sufficiently confronted whether India’s illiberal domestic policies, framed within the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, conform to the global trend against Islamic extremism or are explicitly Islamophobic in nature. Nor has existing research adequately addressed India’s official stances post-October 7th, as the consequences of the 2023 Israel-Hamas war have reverberated throughout the multiethnic state. This paper will argue that the sudden development of India’s support for Israel is a manifestation of the rise in anti-Islamic Hindu nationalism that has consumed Indian politics and which continues to push the country in a Westward direction.

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“…Of all, the biggest focus was on his treatment of West Asia, a region with continuous turbulence, yet extremely crucial for India. However, Modi not only reformed India's West Asia policy by launching 'Look West' policy, but also transformed it by building personal relations with the leaders of West Asian Countries like Israel, UAE and Saudi Arabia (Blarel, 2022) [4] . Instead of choosing a different direction, the new administration continued along the same road but reinforced the "Look West" policy by concentrating on three key areas: the Arab Gulf states, Israel, and Iran.…”

Section: Modi's West Asia Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

The new quad in West Asia: The present and the future of I2U2

Chaurasia¹

2022

Int. J. Political Sci. Governance

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India is taking a significant step in framing the Jewish state within its larger Middle East policy, nearly three decades after Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao broke with the past and normalised relations with Israel in January 1992. Up until this point, the Indian government considered Israel while deciding how to deal with Washington. However, in a virtual conference with his the U.S.A., the UAE, and Israeli colleagues, External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar established the groundwork for a bigger regional approach with Israel as the pivot during his five-day visit to Israel this month. There are already hints that the so-called "minilateral" would include like-minded nations including Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, and France. The new and tiny Quad, made up of India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States, is innovative and non-confrontational, and will therefore last. A number of security issues prevent the other one, which consists of Australia, India, Japan, and the US and whose seeds were sown in 2007, from coming to fruition. The main reason these nations came together was because of their worries about China's strategic ascent, but the Quad still had to overcome many political and economic obstacles. None have the luxury of being outwardly anti-Beijing given that China is their main trading partner. Additionally, the US chose AUKUS when it needed a stronger structure without informing or consulting the other Quad members beforehand.

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Modi looks West? Assessing change and continuity in India’s Middle East policy since 2014

Cited by 6 publications

References 30 publications

India’s relations with Saudi Arabia and UAE under the Modi Government

India’s relations with Saudi Arabia and UAE under the Modi Government

The Rise of Hindu Nationalism: A Catalyst for India’s Strategic Pivot towards Israel

The new quad in West Asia: The present and the future of I2U2

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