India and West Asia

📝India and West Asia

⬜ West Asia

🔸Western Asia, West Asia, Southwestern Asia or Southwest Asia is the westernmost sub region of Asia. The concept significantly overlaps with the Middle East, the main difference usually being the exclusion of the majority of Egypt and the inclusion of the Caucasus.

🔸The World Economy: Historical Statistics (2003) by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) only includes Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait,Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Palestinian territories (called West Bank and Gaza in the latter),Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, UAE, and Yemen as West Asian countries.

🔸The WANA [West Asia & North Africa] Division of MEA deals with all matters relating to Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Israel, Libya, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Palestine, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Jordan and Tunisia.

🔸 The Gulf Division of MEA includes all matters relating to Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, UAE, GCC and OIC].
📝 India’s Focus In West Asia

🔸The region is significant for India’s energy security, people to people ties, trade and investment and security relations.

🔸Key actors from India’s perspective in this region are the regional organizations such as the Gulf Cooperation Council, States such as: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran, and Israel.

🔸 India has a historic and abiding interest in the Palestinian issue.

🔸In this diverse region India’s policy is to seek regional stability which is threatened by regional rivalries (Iran-Saudi Arabia; Israel-Iran etc) and emergence of non state extremist groups such as the ISIS.