The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are a vital source for India’s energy requirements and home to a large population of Indian workers. Although for quite some time now, India’s strategic influence in the Gulf region has been overshadowed by Pakistan, recent developments seem to present India with an opportunity to expand its influence led by maritime security cooperation. However, the growth of Chinese economic and political influence in the region presents some tough challenges. This paper examines India’s extant security ties with the GCC countries and their relations with China, with an aim to make a relative assessment of India’s strategic influence and discusses the prospects for India’s position in the region.

India’s relations with the Gulf countries have been exceptionally significant since ancient times and are multifaceted. The two have maintained historical ties with each other in terms of trade, energy, security as well as a vast expatriate population. While the Indo-Gulf relations are dominated by energy cooperation, recent years have experienced a shift in their dynamics. Owing to Persian Gulf countries’ quest to achieve Vision 2030 through economic diversification, Indo-Gulf relations have seen an expansion in other non-conventional areas such as security cooperation and strategic partnerships. India is not in a military alliance with any of the major powers, however, it shares close strategic and military relations with many major countries in the world. Owing to the growing stature of India and its clout at the global table, India started to build strategic partnerships with major countries such as France, Russia, Germany, and the US, etc., in 1997. It is noteworthy that India ...

India and UAE are the two important emerging economies of the world with strong history of intimacy. After liberalization both have made rapid progress. The bilateral trade between the countries has definitely impact on the economic scenario of world trade. The trade relation between India and UAE is developing its own impetus and dynamism. UAE's share in Indian exports and Imports increased from 4.41 per cent and 3.39 per cent in 1996-97 to 9.71 per cent and 6.45 per cent in 2009-10 respectively. During the period of 1996-97 to 2009-10, the real growth rates of Indian exports to and imports from UAE grew at higher rate than its overall exports and imports. The geographical relations between India and UAE turned to be good one, which positively affected their trade relations. The trade between these two giant economies has been identified as the most sensible and reliable instrument, in recognizing the impact on the dynamism of the global economy and its vibrant growth speed. It is in this context of their changing behavior, the present study makes an endeavor to appraise that how the bilateral trade between the two countries becomes as a tool in intensifying their partnership for their joint advantages in the future time.

In this viewpoint, areas and urage of economic cooperation between India and its largest trading partner UAE are explored, particularity under the new government in New Delhi. The new government at Delhi offers so much to the Dubai investors under Make in India policy. The author has tried to explore the areas where the two countries can forge deep and intimate ties in the areas of emerging Indian economy.

How has Indian Prime Minister Modi’s domestic policies of Act East and Neighbourhood First Policy fared in consonance with his foreign policy objectives in the Indian Ocean Region and Indo-Pacific at the end of his first tenure? To answer this question, this paper presents empirical research that reviews the role and scope of the maritime component in India’s policy approach from 2014 till 2019 under Modi government towards regional peace and security. A reading of maritime trends informs the research that New Delhi has been taking a two-pronged, parallel approach to achieve its goals: India is establishing strategic partnerships at the bilateral level with countries through military exercises and defence-related trade. Simultaneously, at the multilateral, regional level New Delhi has shown an increasing interest in developing regional security architectures for engagement with like-minded countries having common regional interests and objectives. The research concludes that even though bilateral engagements are moving to delivering its aims of fostering cooperation, it is under the larger ambit of multilateralism that India needs to develop normative and operational maritime security frameworks /arrangements in the coming years.

The Western Indian Ocean (the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, the Bab el-Mandeb, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman, the Arabian/Persian Gulf) is the new Gulf powers’ battlefield. Saudi Arabia and Iran, as already in the Middle East, are vying for hegemony in this sub-region: the Gulf monarchies also compete for influence, especially after the 2017 Qatari crisis and Doha’s boycott by neighbours. Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Oman but also Turkey, struggle to acquire geopolitical leverage in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO). Nowadays, the multipolar system which shapes International Relations maximizes the geostrategic relevance of WIO, at the crossroads among Eastern Africa, the Gulf, and Southern Asia. In these waterways, regional and international players share security and energy interests (as freedom of navigation), but they also compete, more and more, for local alliances, commercial ports, and/or military agreements and bases. In the WIO, China and India are designing rival nodes of influence: the Chinese “One Belt, One Road” initiative (OBOR), which adapted the previous “string of pearls” strategy, pushed New Delhi to counterbalance Beijing’s plans with a policy of connectivity in the sub-region.

Being a maritime nation with considerable economic and military power, India has shown keen interest in demonstrating its role as a major security provider in the IOR. In the Southwest Indian Ocean too, India has sought to develop a security presence and strengthen its position by capitalising on its historic ties with the littoral nations of the region through provision of military training, defence equipment and security advisors. India’s efforts are mostly directed at making the Indian influence more visible in the strategic affairs of the region that seem to be clouded by the increasing Chinese forays into the region. The paper evaluates the strategic relationships through the maritime dimensions of India’s engagement with these littoral nations. The intensity of India’s efforts to be seen as an important maritime security providing power of the region and the response of these littoral states to India’s call for greater cooperation forms an important thrust of the paper. The article argues that India’s national security concerns and great power ambitions manifest itself in India’s engagement in the region. However, greater exploitation of its strategic ties with Mauritius and Seychelles hold the key for greater maritime strategic influence in the region.

The Western Indian Ocean is a maritime gateway to Europe and North America from Asia. Consisting of the African littoral states, the region has an abundance of rare-earth materials and energy resources. The vital chokepoints and SLOCs in the region make it an important Exclusive Economic Zone. India's presence in the region can be traced to the medieval period when its traders used these sea routes for trade with the Arabs and Persia. But this maritime contact gradually eroded under the British Empire. Post-independence, India's maritime policy remained largely inward and continental. It was after the change of the century that India realized the importance of the maritime domain in its strategic doctrine. The growing Chinese presence, energy security, and the protection of the SLOCs in the Indian Ocean Region contributed to this policy reorientation. Since the last decade, India has attempted to enhance cooperation with the Western Indian Ocean littorals, situated either near or at the chokepoints. India has been actively involved in the region through HADR, SAR, and anti-piracy operations. The African Ocean Rim littorals also regard India as a dependable security partner. In some cases, India has established itself as a security guarantor, as is arguably the case with Mauritius and the Maldives. There is also the possibility of broader cooperation with like-minded partners like France and Japan to counter China in the region. In this context, the paper looks into India's active participation in the region, under its broader Indian Ocean policy, to fulfill its aspiration of emerging as a great power.