India’s Growing Role in the Gulf: Implications for the Region and the United States
C. Raja Mohan, “India’s Strategic Challenges in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf,” in Abdulaziz Sager and Geoffrey Kemp, eds., India’s Growing Role in the Gulf: Implications for the Region and the United States (Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Gulf Research Center 28 October 2009).
… India and China have achieved a remarkable diplomatic presence in the Middle East, and unlike the United States or the former colonial powers (Britain, France, and Italy), they have made very few enemies and have managed to build good working relationships with all countries including close ties with Israel. Both countries are engaged in Mid-East peacekeeping operations. China’s participation in Lebanon within the framework of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) began officially on April 9, 2006. India has a much longer record of post World War II Mid-East peacekeeping, beginning with its participation in the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) established in 1956 to monitor the Sinai desert. India has peacekeeping forces in UNIFIL, numbering 672 troops and staff officers and provided two of the last four commanding officers, but has not added any forces recently. Although India has historically had a more visible presence in the Gulf than China, it is only recently that is has begun to demonstrate power and influence. India has so far not had a major arms supply relationship with the Middle East countries, except Israel, but has been cooperating on a military-to-military basis with all of the small countries in the Gulf in recent years. …
