Greater Noida (Defence Desk): Recently when Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Kuwait’s Amir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah the two countries not only elevated their relationship to a strategic partnership signalling trade and defence cooperation but India also invited Kuwaiti investment in the fields of energy, medical devices, pharma and food parks.
Why this also is significant is because the two sides institutionalised defence cooperation through an overarching agreement that includes training, exchange of personnel and experts, joint exercises, supply of defence equipment, and collaboration in research and development.
But why Kuwait matters to India?
Kuwait may not appear to be significant on the global pedestal going by its land size, however, its performance on the global stage has been enormous, especially for India.
Additionally, India’s policy towards West Asia, matters for a number of reasons that include energy security particularly oil and natural gas, countering radicalisation and even cultural ties with India establishing cultural centres in several countries in the region. Other than these, West Asia is also believed to have the potential to serve as the gateway to landlocked Central Asia.
It has been since the 1990s that India has had a strong trade partnerships with West Asia in areas of energy and oil. Furthermore, in 2014, in line with the Look East policy, India charted a new approach focusing on building strategic relations with West Asia. Experts believe that the policy is aimed at fulfilling India’s national interest without getting involved in the regional politics of the Arab world.
But such attempts at bolstering ties come with its own challenges. Despite India’s efforts to expand economic ties, the country’s trade with the West Asian countries has been relatively limited compared to other regions. To add to that India also has to navigate through the complex geopolitical dynamics in the volatile West Asian region. Like how India is trying to balance its relations with Israel and Palestine and during the Russia Ukraine war.
A number of countries from this region endorsing or being infected with terror groups like the Islamic State causing threat not only to those native to this region but also to the Indian diaspora has been another major challenge India faces from this region.
India has traditionally taken a multi-faceted approach to addressing the challenges in its relations with West Asia. Some of the key approaches that India has taken include:
But despite these odds India is committed to strengthen its economic ties with West Asian countries through all means of trade and investment. It is not only completing the pending free trade agreement with the Gulf cooperation council expeditiously but also enhancing cooperation on trade level, bilateral talks on geopolitical issues, defence cooperation and issues related to trade.
In the long run, such developments between India and Kuwait will also turn out to be favourable not just for the two nations but for over 1.1 million Indians who reside in Kuwait and contribute to Kuwait’s economic growth along with being a vital link to India’s prosperity with their remittances injecting billions of dollars into the Indian economy.
