New Delhi, April 19 (IANS) India’s stakes are high in the ongoing conflict in West Asia, in terms of safety of Indian immigrants living there and also ensuring its energy security.

In this age of chaos and regional crisis, India’s nuanced and multi-vector diplomacy is pragmatic as well as necessary.

“New Delhi has never intervened or directly taken sides in domestic and regional matters of Gulf countries. Those nations have also not forced New Delhi to shed its multi-pronged approach in the deeply polarised regional environment,” a noted expert said in its column, penned in a leading portal — Modern Diplomacy.

“After the escalation in full-blown conflict, India’s energy security has remained at the forefront of New Delhi’s diplomacy as India’s major supplier for crude oil and natural gas remains the Gulf nation, around 60 per cent of India’s crude oil and 50 per cent of liquified Natural Gas (LNG) depend on exports from the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz plays a crucial role in it,” the report noted.

The report acknowledges and appreciates Indian government’s coordinated efforts with Tehran and calibrated actions of the Indian Navy through “Operation Urja Suraksha” in ensuring that more than half a dozen merchant vessels of India transited the Strait.

“Indian flagged LNG and PNG carrying vessels were allowed by Iran as it regarded India as a “friendly nation” due to the diplomatic efforts and tactical alignment by New Delhi,” it added.

India’s bilateral engagements with high-level visits underscored the importance, India attaches to their largest suppliers like Qatar, which resulted in them reaffirming their commitment “to remain a reliable energy supplier to India”.

It further says that in an interconnected global order when the global shockwaves show its ripple effect thousands of kilometres away, the realm of communications and proactive outreach should become a central diplomatic mechanism to ensure a win-win situation.

“New Delhi’s Gulf outreach amid the regional escalation has precisely done the same,” it noted.

–IANS

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