New alliance of India, Israel, UAE and US

Posted on 20th Oct 2021 by rohit kumar

The meeting of the foreign ministers of India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the US is seen as a new strategic and political pole in the Middle East.

 

In diplomatic circles, the coming together of these countries is being called 'New Quad' or the new 'Quadital Security Dialogue'.

 

India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is on a visit to Israel and in this meeting, he joined Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lepid from Jerusalem.

 

During this, issues such as economic expansion in Asia and the Middle East, political cooperation, trade, and maritime security were discussed.

 

After the meeting, Jaishankar also tweeted in this regard and expressed hope that the issues discussed in detail in the meeting will be taken forward shortly.

 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan were also present in this meeting.

 

Why America wants India to play an important role

 

Strategic affairs experts believe that India had always kept a distance from America in matters of the Middle East.

 

Last year, the US played a major role in the signing of the 'Abrahamic Accord' or 'Abrahamic Agreement' between several Gulf countries, which led to the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United Arab Emirates and Israel. This agreement was made during the regime of former President Donald Trump.

 

Harsh V Pant, Professor of Foreign Affairs at King's College in London, says that when Joe Biden took power, it seemed that he would distance himself from Trump's decisions and policies.

 

But Biden also took it forward, respecting the "Abrahamic Accord". This meeting of the foreign ministers of the four countries was organized in the same direction.

 

According to Pant, India's relations with the United Arab Emirates have been very good and also with Israel. That is why America also wants India to play an important role in the Middle East.

 

Pant also believes that India was also looking for opportunities to play a new role in the Middle East, which it has got.

 

Already, India's business relationship with the UAE is going on. India and Israel's partnership is also going on in many areas of technology and security.

 

Pant says that such polarization in the Middle East with two friendly countries and the US will be strategically and diplomatically beneficial for India.

 

However, foreign affairs expert Manoj Joshi does not give much importance to this polarization. They believe that such agreements keep happening between countries.

 

New 'Quad'

 

He says, "These four countries have come together. We have talked and a mutual agreement has also been made. But everything depends on what will be the results. Then somewhere it can be taken seriously."

 

According to Manoj Joshi, "The 'Quad' which was once seen as the new 'Nato', is not showing much enthusiasm now.

 

But he believes that at this time India will have to make military agreements with Middle-East countries because India does not have a strategic presence in the Gulf countries. Whereas America, Britain, and France have their military bases there.

 

Strategic affairs experts feel that what role India should play in the Middle East, there has always been a ruckus as relations with Iran come in the way. India has always taken a middle ground in its relations with the countries of the Middle East and Iran.

 

Senior journalist Abhijit Iyer Mitra says that all three countries are important for India. India has strong business ties with UAE. At the same time, Israel and India are celebrating three decades of better diplomatic relations with each other, due to which S Jaishankar has gone on a visit there.

 

Although India recognized Israel only in the year 1952, formally the deployment of diplomats started from the nineties, when PV Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister of India.

 

Abhijeet says, "India always believed that the road to Washington passes through Tel Aviv. That is, for better relations with America, it was necessary to have better relations with Israel. At the same time, India also has better relations with the countries of the Middle East. There have been very good relations and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always extended a hand of friendship to the leaders of the Middle East personally, whether it is Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia or the Emir of the UAE."

 

He says that this was also the reason that when Article 370 was removed from Jammu and Kashmir, the countries of the Middle East saw it as an internal matter of India and did not react. That is why India has always maintained a 'balance' between Israel and other Middle East countries and has also been successful in this.