Abu Dhabi [UAE], January 28 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has highlighted the expansion of engagement between India and Middle East in the past decade. He said that India considers Middle East an “extended neighbourhood” with which it has now re-connected in full measure.
In his address at the inaugural session of Raisina Middle East in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, Jaishankar stressed that the partnership between India and Middle East holds “special importance” in a changing world. He said that India sees Middle East as a close partner and a crucial passage to the world beyond.
Jaishankar said, “An India with wider interests and growing capabilities today contemplates the world with confidence. We certainly recognize the risks, but we are equally cognizant of the opportunities. For us, the Middle East is an extended neighbourhood with which we have now re-connected in full measure. It is a crucial passage to the world beyond, whether we speak of Africa or the Atlantic. It is about partners with whom we have traditions and comfort. What is needed most at this time is a deepening of our engagement, a prospect made possible today by more conversations and frequent exchanges.”
In a post on X, Jaishankar stated, “Addressed the inaugural session of #RaisinaMiddleEast in Abu Dhabi. Highlighted the significant expansion of India – Middle East engagement in the past decade, driven by strong trade, connectivity and people-to-people linkages. And how this partnership holds special importance in a changing world. An India with wider interests and growing capabilities sees the Middle East as not only a close partner but a crucial passage to the world beyond.”
https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1884151609946468482
He noted that in a changing world, challenges are best addressed and opportunities ideally exploited by forging a shared agenda and developing a common purpose and mentioned India’s efforts in doing so with nations of Gulf, MENA and the Mediterranean.
Jaishankar said, “In this world of change, challenges are best addressed and opportunities ideally exploited by forging a shared agenda and developing a common purpose. That is exactly what India is trying to do today with nations of the Gulf, MENA and the Mediterranean. There are some elements of the traditional agenda that could bear with more collaborative solutions. Food and health security are perhaps the two most obvious. There is manufacturing. Manufacturing, as it becomes more diversified.”
“Technology, as it becomes more democratized. We are creating the basis for more broad-based growth. There is also the promise of technologies on the horizon. After all, this is now the world of AI and EV, of space and drones. We have already seen the first collaborative projects on green hydrogen and green ammonia start to take shape. There is also a serious discussion underway on overseas transmission grids. New forms of connectivity are also in the making. Enabling technology to work has also spurred greater collaboration in education and skills. Our endeavours those of India and the Middle East, can be further projected into Africa, Europe, the Caucuses and Central Asia,” he added.
Jaishankar also spoke about different discourse taking place at the global level. He said, “In India, our own debates about the direction of progress highlight what Prime Minister Modi often calls the twin pillars of technology and tradition. Their dynamic is an interactive one, and that is a departure from the understanding that modernity and tradition are polar opposites. But at the global level, a different discourse is taking place. And this is a discourse which often pits progress against heritage, the future against the past. This has implications for both diplomacy and statecraft. In the name of universal norms, efforts are being made to advance a borderless culture.”
“Its purpose of course is to create new forms of legitimacy and override national traditions, practices and even decision-making. Nations and their governance are rated and ranked with an agenda in mind. The tools to influence opinion include finance and media, but most of all the power of technology. Many of the changes underway in the global order are because there is today widespread resistance to such efforts. So, we are witnessing today both an economic and a politico-cultural pushback, sometimes the two coming together. This is the big issue now before us. It will re-shape the manner, not just in how societies govern themselves but also in how they approach international relations. We, in the Indian sub-continent and the Middle East, are intimately involved with both aspects and should engage with each other in that regard,” he added.
He noted that the era of colonialism significantly distorted the natural connectivity within and between nations and regions. He said that the case for re-engineering the flow of goods and services has become stronger as production and consumption have diversified in the past eight decades. He called the COVID-19 pandemic experience an instructive lesson.
Jaishankar said, “The pandemic experience was also an instructive lesson. So too are the disruptive consequences of conflict; I just need to remind you that two serious ones are ongoing and these are cases to point. Extreme climate events are an additional cause of anxiety, as indeed even accidents in crucial supply lines.”
He stressed that “refashioning connectivity” cannot be a unilateral enterprise if it is to be effectively utilized and noted that there are some initiatives currently underway that will unfold in the coming years. He called the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) the most notable in the region and added that India is involved in both.
He said, “To our East, we are looking at both land and sea-based corridors that will take us to the Pacific. The Middle East will be a beneficiary when that happens. Maritime security and safety is another issue where understanding and mechanisms will have to step in to fill in global deficit. This is already underway in the Arabian and Red Seas. More First Responders are required to address the HADR situations. India has come forward to a considerable degree in this regard. But partnerships, with and amongst Middle East nations can help deal with this challenge.”
“As two regions long connected by the flow of people, it is also natural that we will have a common interest in the emergence of a global workplace. This is all the more necessary when new industries like semiconductors or electric mobility scour the world for skills and talent. The Gulf, in particular, has been a trendsetter in this regard. As Middle Eastern nations themselves explore emerging and critical technologies, as they full exploit the current and future energy potential, they will surely utilize the current foundation of good will and experience to bolster their own capabilities,” he added.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is in the UAE from January 27-29 to strengthen the bilateral relationship between the two countries, with a focus on advancing their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
“The visit will provide an opportunity to advance the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries and add new momentum to the India – UAE relationship,” an official press release by the Ministry of External Affairs stated. (ANI)
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