8
February 2014); two prime ministerial visits from India in February–
March 2010 and April 2016; visits by Saudi foreign minister in March
2016 and by Indian external affairs ministers in May 2013 and February
- Besides, oil ministers from both the countries have been visiting
one another or meeting in international forums. Moreover, the Kingdom
also hosted Human Resources Minister Arjun Singh (May 2006) and
Defence Minister A. K. Antony (February 2012), and their National
Security Advisors have been exchanging views at regular intervals. Above
all, there is a greater realization in both the countries that bilateral rela-
tions have to go beyond transactional ties towards capitalizing on the
inherent advantages of the other. These are reflected in a growing Saudi
willingness to accommodate India’s interests and concerns; the Saudi con-
demnation of Pakistan-sponsored terror attack in Uri in September 2016
and the permission granted to Air India to fly to Israel over its airspace
can be cited as an examples of Saudi flexibility towards India.
This book seeks to capture India’s Saudi policy since its independence
and analyses the trajectory of its approach towards the Kingdom. It argues
that its geopolitical outlook and foreign policy approach based on the
Cold War dynamics and the Pakistani factor prevented India from looking
at the Kingdom as a potential friend. Despite the immense possibilities
due to socio-cultural and geo-historic advantages, New Delhi could not
capitalize on the strengths primarily due to its concerns vis-à-vis Pakistan.
The gulf created due to the Indian perceptions was further strengthened
by the partisan Saudi approach over Pakistan and its desire to look at the
South Asian matrix through Pakistani prism. In short, the Pakistan factor
became a millstone around their necks and prevented any meaningful
political understanding and cooperation.
The transformation had to wait until the end of the Cold War and sig-
nificant shifts in the Indian approach towards the outside world and its
willingness to seek international influence through strength. Domestic
growth enabled India to change its view of the outside world and leverage
its influence. These, in turn, resulted in India de- hyphenating Pakistan
from its engagements with the outside world. The delink also freed Riyadh
from its traditional approach towards the subcontinent.
Why policy, not relations? The transformation of the bilateral ties, more
visible since the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is largely due
to shifts in Indian understanding of and approach towards Saudi Arabia.
The initiatives largely rested on India and its ability to understand that the
P. R. KUMARASWAMY AND MD. M. QUAMAR