India should use this opportunity to participate as a bigger player in the region, experts say

Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), two nations who have always been at loggerheads with each other, signed a deal to normalize relations with each other with US President Donald Trump being the mediator. Amid this, a report published in The Economic Times suggests that India can very well turn it into an opportunity and gain from this deal.

According to the report, the deal aims to improve the diplomatic relations between the two countries. It focuses on suspending the annexation of the Palestine region by Israel and setting a roadmap towards establishing a bilateral relationship.

The article says the improved relationship might open the door of opportunities for India which already has good relations with both nations. The report says that India should use this opportunity to participate as a bigger player in the region. India can ramp up defence and security relations with the UAE when Israel is already a close defence partner. India can also think about conducting joint exercises with UAE and Saudi Arabia. The report says that India can also use this opportunity to have some economic gain.

The report further said that India can use its relationship with the Arab nations to push for Iranian participation in the region. Apart from that India can also use this opportunity to work towards sustainable peace, the report mentioned.

According to some experts, India can also use this opportunity to corner Pakistan in this region as Pakistan’s use of Muslim card has become an obsolete strategy which no longer works in the region. The report quotes them saying that if India manages to make it happen, it can corner Pakistan in its bogus claims on Kashmir.