Oil and the end game in Afghanistan will be the common talking points with the Gulf and Middle East leaders
The importance of Saudi Arabia for India can be
gauged from the fact that it is home to 2.88 million Indians, the
largest in the Gulf and Middle East. Photo: AP
New Delhi: India will be doing a diplomatic
balancing act by hosting leaders of two key states of the strategically
important Gulf and Middle Eastern region this week, with the crown
prince of Saudi Arabia and the foreign minister of Iran expected in New
Delhi, and energy and the end game in Afghanistan being common talking
points, government officials say.
Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud,
who is also the kingdom’s deputy prime minister and defence minister is
set to arrive in India on 26 February on a three-day visit while
Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif is on a two- day trip starting 27 February.
The visits come amidst interesting geopolitical changes
in the region—the recent estrangement between one-time allies, the US
and Saudi Arabia over the civil war in Syria and the possible
rapprochement between Western countries and the till recently
international pariah, Iran, given the breakthrough in talks over
Tehran’s controversial nuclear programme. Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia
and Shia-dominated Iran have been at odds for decades given that both
are contenders for influence over the countries in the region with
significant Shia and Sunni populations.
“It helps (India) to balance the relationship since both
(Saudi Arabia and Iran) are pitted against each other in West Asia, in
context of Sunni-Shia conflict,” said former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal. In the case of Syria, for example, Iran is backing the regime of President Bashar al-Assad while
Saudi Arabia was backing the opposition in the ongoing civil war, Sibal
noted. “It is wise to have political communication with both sides. It
is also optically good to have both visits in the same week,” he said.
With the region—that includes states like the UAE, Oman,
Qatar and Bahrain— home to 7 million expatriate Indians who send back
$30 billion home annually, India has always been keen to forge stronger
ties with these countries. “This is really one of the most important
relationships that we have across the globe. The Gulf countries provide
almost 60% of our energy requirement. The Gulf countries are our largest
trading partner by far as a regional group. And we are looking at an
annual trade of over $180 billion, which is almost 26% of our global
trade,” Mridul Kumar, joint secretary, Gulf, in the ministry of external affairs, told reporters over the weekend.
PRASHANT SHARMA
PGDM-IIsem
SOURCE-MINT
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