India-West Asia Ties | Government’s timely intervention should save the day

In an attempt to pour oil over troubled waters, the Ministry of External Affairs asserted that the tweets do not, in any manner, reflect the views of the Government of India, and they are the “views of fringe elements."

The controversy may die down now that the people who made the offensive comments have been suspended by the BJP, and because they do not hold any position in the government. Moreover, the government has quite rightly distanced itself from these remarks.

However, the controversy raises questions about how this might impact bilateral ties with the West Asian countries; ties which have gone from strength to strength in the last few years, with several high-profile visits and bilateral agreements.

In the recent past, the Government of India has been quite aggressive in warning other countries about commenting on its internal affairs. In fact, even in this case, the government’s reaction to Pakistan and to the OIC, which voiced sentiments similar to the Arab nations, was quite dismissive and curt. But the fact that the government rushed to mollify the sentiments of West Asian countries, saying that “vested interests that are against” India’s relations with these countries are stoking the controversy, shows the value that India attaches to strong bilateral relations with these countries.

India imports more than 60 percent of its oil and over 40 percent of its gas from the region. Qatar itself is the largest source of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to India, supplying around 40 percent of its gas requirements. A huge diaspora of over 8.5 million Indians work in the region. Remittances from Arab nations contribute majorly to the $87 billion in remittances that India receives from its diaspora. Moreover, many of these countries invest huge amounts in India.

For instance, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia are the third- and fourth-largest sources of FDI into India. Iran is important for New Delhi as a source of oil, and because of the Chabahar port which is India’s gateway to Central Asia and Europe.

Similarly, Indian businesses have also made huge investments in the region. India, of course, also has long-standing civilisational and cultural links with the countries of the region, and it has the second-largest Muslim population in the world. So, the Government of India did well to step in to protect these interests.

This particular controversy is unlikely to have any long-term impact on India’s relations with the region, and might blow over soon because West Asia needs India as much as India needs the region. But it shows how fragile these relations are, and that they might come under more stress, and possibly even rupture, if incidents like this keep recurring. That might not end well for both sides as the 1973 oil crisis tells us.

This whole controversy thus behoves the need to exercise restraint and for sensitisation in debates on domestic policy, because sometimes these could have far-reaching repercussions on foreign policy, causing embarrassment to the Indian government, and unnecessarily putting it in a tricky situation.

Uma Purushothaman teaches International Relations at the Central University of Kerala. Twitter: @uma_IRteacher. 

Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.