Manohar Parrikar will become the first-ever Indian defence minister to visit the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on May 18, which in itself is quite surprising given the huge presence of Indians in the UAE. His visit has the ostensible aim to substantially further ties in defence and security, especially relating to the rise of ISIS. “The rise of ISIS and Shia-Sunni turmoil in the region has set in new thinking in the Arab world and they are looking towards India. The need to capitalise this opportunity and seek even greater cooperation in combating fundamentalist elements is what the defence minister’s visit will seek to achieve,” an MoD official told this newspaper.
While traditionally India’s ties with Arab nations and the Gulf had been largely focused on the economics, counter terror had taken the backseat with Kashmir and ties with Pakistan being the stumbling blocks.
“That is why we hope to break new ground with the defence minister’s visit this time,” the official said. The scourge of ISIS has not left India unaffected, albeit on a much lower scale. According to Indian intelligence sources, of the more than 20 youth who have left to join ISIS, at least six have been killed in fighting in Iraq-Syria. Mr Parrikar will be in UAE from May 18 before travelling to Oman. He will return to India on May 22. This will be an Indian defence minister’s first visit to Oman in six years. The visit also assumes significance in the backdrop of unprecedented cooperation with the Arab nations on counter-terror with dozens of wanted individuals being handed over to Indian authorities in the recent past. Earlier, the ball was earlier set rolling by PM Narendra Modi visiting the UAE in September last year.
Another key item in Parrikar’s agenda will be to promote and explore markets for Indian-made defence items. “This will include a range of items including ordnance products and other military hardware”, the MoD official said. Indian plans are in the offing to ramp up manufacturing of export-oriented defence products.
