India and West Asia

Abstract

The strategic importance of West Asia lies in its geography and an essential natural resource, namely petroleum. The importance of petroleum for world’s economy, and hence the importance of West Asia, has received extensive attention at the hands of analysts and scholars. Petroleum is the single most valuable commodity in world commerce, an indispensable item in time of peace and of critical strategic importance in time of war. India has a big stake in the region. Energy is the most obvious case in point. 70 per cent of India’s imported energy needs come from West Asia and this dependence will only increase as the Indian economy continues to grow at 8 per cent or more. The proposed pipeline with Iran thus makes good economically strategic sense as does the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India pipeline. India would certainly wish the Indian community to live in West Asia in conditions of dignity and self-respect, for which efforts continue to be made and in which the governments in the region are being more and more cooperative. India’s non-oil economic relations with the region are also expanding to mutual benefit. This is true also of Israel. Thus, India’s national interests are directly linked to peace and stability in West Asia.