India and the Gulf: Regional security and India's multialignment policy

Abstract

In the 21st century, India significantly enhanced its engagements with the Gulf region driven by domestic economic and security considerations. New Delhi followed a policy of strengthening bilateral ties and maintained neutrality on intraregional disputes, tensions, and rivalries. Hence, the Gulf policy followed the fine print of a multialigned foreign policy, a concept frequently used to describe the post-Cold War shifts in India's external relations. However, given the transitions in the regional security scenario both because of regional developments and systemic factors, India's multialigned policy in the Gulf faces serious challenges. The Indian response reveals that despite different regional and international factors pulling in different directions, the Gulf policy continues to be guided by multialignment.