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India should person stepped into the vacuum erstwhile the United States, which played a ascendant relation successful the West Asia portion arsenic the guarantor of security, mislaid its credibility successful the region, said Talmiz Ahmad, erstwhile ambassador to Oman, UAE, and Saudi Arabia, and prof of International studies, Symbiosis International University, Pune. He was speaking astatine Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS), which is hosting The Hindu Diplomacy and Sustainability Dialogues 2026.
Speaking connected the taxable ‘India’s Diplomatic Balancing successful West Asia: Strategic Autonomy, Energy Security and Global Responsibility’ connected Wednesday (May 13, 2026), the erstwhile Ambassador remarked that “India is not a superior role-player arsenic acold arsenic West Asia and the situation implicit the past 2 and a fractional years is concerned.”
Responding to the question posed by Suhasini Haidar, Diplomatic Editor, The Hindu, connected however helium evaluates India’s argumentation towards the portion successful the discourse of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s sojourn to UAE, particularly aft his caller entreaty to the nationalist to deploy austerity measures, erstwhile ambassador Ahmad said: “Our approach, implicit the past respective years, has been to person bilateral relations, which is transactional with the countries successful the region. We bash not person a corporate presumption of the region, nor bash we privation to play immoderate relation successful promoting information and stableness there.”
Answering a question implicit whether helium felt India has followed a “balanced” West Asia policy, Sunjay Sudhir, erstwhile Ambassador to UAE and Maldives, Distinguished Fellow, IIM Ahmedabad, said that the argumentation has been alternatively “pragmatic”.
“It is due to the fact that we person interests crossed the portion – from Israel and the GCC to Iran. To equilibrium retired these interests, the attack has to beryllium pragmatic. The sojourn to the UAE is simply a important connection successful itself. Half of our diaspora successful the portion is successful that state and we person a immense magnitude of commercialized and Foreign Direct Investment,” helium said.
Commenting connected India’s relation successful the situation successful West Asia, Gulshan Sachdeva, Jean Monnet Chair, School of International Studies, JNU, said that India had taken a broadside successful West Asia adjacent earlier the warfare had begun.
“I would accidental that our appraisal was not truly correct. We thought that it was going to beryllium a abbreviated and an casual warfare and they (U.S. and Israel) were going to win. We are trying to, perhaps, equilibrium since then...” helium said, adding, “Our 1 narration with Israel should not go a liability, not lone successful West Asia, but successful the full planetary south. In the agelong run, things are going to settle.”
T.C. Karthikeyan, prof connected Politics and International Relations, Director – Centre For Public argumentation and Administration, Saveetha School of Law, added, “Whenever nations look economical hardships, immoderate radical whitethorn look saying they tin connection each the solutions. We person to beryllium mindful of the emergence of dictatorships. India should play the relation of a facilitator – principled and committed to planetary rules-based order.”
