The Gulf is calling and New Delhi must listen
This article argues that India must move beyond its traditional 'multi-alignment' strategy in West Asia due to shifting geopolitical realities. As the US reduces its regional security footprint, India faces a vacuum that requires a more proactive security and diplomatic approach.
Why it matters
Analyzes the necessity for India to evolve its foreign policy to protect its economic and security interests in a volatile Middle East.
For decades, India’s relationship with West Asia operated under a doctrine of deliberate ambiguity and even of some strategic distance. Delhi treated the “Middle East” primarily as an economic hinterland: a critical source of crude oil, a reliable destination for outbound labour, and a vital conduit for remittances. When regional crises flared, Indian foreign policy defaulted to hedging, balancing relations between competing power centres such as Riyadh, Tehran, Tel Aviv, and Abu Dhabi without tying itself to the security obligations of any single capital. Of late, we called that approach “multi-alignment”.
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