India's relations with Arab nations suffer due to allegations of espionage
World
India's relations with Arab nations suffer due to allegations of espionage
DOHA (Dunya News) – Due to espionage in guise of alliance, India's relations with Arab countries have become frosty.
Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar is on a three-day visit to Qatar starting December 30, 2024.
The visit of the Indian top diplomat is to realign India's relations amid allegations of espionage, migrant disputes, support for Israel and concerns about neutrality.
Qatar's total population in 2024 is roughly 3.12 million, of which only 12 percent are Qatari citizens. Indians are the largest expatriate community, constituting about 21.8 percent of the total population and providing services in sectors such as construction, public health and technology.
In August 2022, Qatar arrested eight former Indian Navy officers working under Dehra Global Technologies on espionage charges, accusing them of sharing classified information about Qatar’s U212 modern submarines with Israel, India’s RAW agency, and Iran.
These officers included even the high-ranking individuals like Captain Navtej Singh Gill and Birender Kumar Verma, who were sentenced to death in 2023 but later released in February 2024.
India’s global espionage activities have been documented time and again with the country’s couple arrested in Germany in 2019 on charges of spying on Kashmiri and Sikh groups.
Previously, in 2016, Indian Navy Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav was arrested on charges of running a terrorist network in Pakistan. In 2015, Sri Lanka expelled India’s RAW station chief for political interference.
Under Narendra Modi, India's foreign policy has gone through a significant policy change as close ties with Israel established. In the latest example in 2024, India abstained from voting on the first UN resolution proposed by Palestine, a departure from its traditional pro-Palestinian stance.
That move at the UN created India’s differences from the BRICS bloc and other South Asian countries, raising concerns about its neutrality. This also reflects the growing alliance between India and Israel amid the Palestinian crisis.
Questions and suspicions have also come forward regarding India's credibility and trust in the Arab world. After the attacks on Hamas, Israel publicly thanked India on its official account. The trend of pro-Israel hashtags from Indian accounts is very much visible.
Arab countries should review their trust in India, as despite strong cultural and economic ties, incidents such as espionage, pro-Israel views, and ideological influence pose challenges to the sanctity of relations in the Middle East.
