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from Hoover Institution
Nonprofit Organization in Stanford, California
In recent years the United States has been pursuing stronger relations with India, and for good reason. Setting aside that India is important in its own right—with more than 18 percent of the world’s population and with the sixth largest economy in the world—policymakers and strategists are also recognizing India’s power in regional and global affairs. Consider some of the most important international events over the past decade. The US has turned to India for support in sanctioning Iran, for rebuilding Afghanistan, for jointly working against terrorism in the region, and more recently, for coordinating on China and the Indo-Pacific. Developing a strong relationship with India is clearly in line with US interests. Given the need to develop strong relations between the two countries, how should US policymakers seek to win over their Indian counterparts? The answer may lie in the Middle East. India’s recent willingness to engage Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) provides something of a roadmap for developing strong bilateral relations between the US and India. Furthermore, India seems to be open to the possibility of engaging in a “West Asian Quad,” specifically a multilateral partnership between the US, the UAE, and Israel. The US stands to gain from the emergence of a West Asian Quad. Taken together, US-India relations can be strengthened by observing what has worked at a bilateral level between India and its partners in the Middle East, and by advancing this new multilateral partnership.
New collaborations and alliances in the Indo-Med and Indo-Pac relations will continue to emerge, as the U.S. shifts resources and attention to dealing with current great power rivalries. Many types of such collaborations should be anticipated. In this context, I want to propose a concrete collaboration that poses difficulties but could prove meaningful, specifically: to enlist India as a channel for exchanges between Iran, on the one hand, and the Arab States or Israel on the other. The need for such a trusted channel of communication is great. Hostility between some Arab States and Israel, on the one hand, and Iran on the other, is acute and calls, not only for strong resistance to Iranian aggression, but also for diplomatic initiatives that could potentially improve relations and reduce the prospects of further escalation.
from The Spokesman-Review
Newspaper in Spokane, Washington
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