Historically, India has depended on West Asian countries for energy dependency. Moreover, due to budding business in the region, especially in UAE, around 7 million Indians live here. This has also been a point of discussion in bilateral talks and agreements in the past. Since the election of the Modi government, India's discourse with the Middle East and the rest of West Asia has revolved around topics such as counterterrorism, security, defense cooperation and non-oil trade. Dr. Ningthoujam is a strategic researcher, focusing on India-Middle East relations, Israeli foreign policy, Israel’s ties with the Southeast/East Asian countries, its military exports, geopolitics of Middle East, International Terrorism, and Middle East-China relations. He also holds a Ph. D., from the Centre for West Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi for my doctoral thesis on Israel’s Arms Exports. In this deep dive on Indo-West Asia relationships, Dr. Alvite speaks about topics such as the similarities and differences between various West Asian countries, the various developmental projects undertaken by India in the region, and the change towards West Asian relationships with the election of PM Modi.
