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The recent visit by the Indian Air Force chief, Air Chief Marshal R.K. Bhadauria, to Israel offers a window to study how New Delhi is taking advantage of the Abraham Accords deal signed between Israel and a consortium of Arab States led by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2020.
Details
- According to reports, an Indian contingent of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will now visit Israel in October to take part in multilateral military exercises.
- India’s trajectory towards an increased strategic footprint in West Asia has been in development for some time now.
The Iran link
- Iran, as part of India’s ‘West Asia’ construct, will also play a significant part in India’s outreach in the months to come as the crisis in Afghanistan deepens.
- The fact that New Delhi used Iranian airspace and facilities when evacuating its diplomatic staff from Kandahar in July showcases a level of strategic commonality, interest and play on certain issues in the region.
- Keeping this in mind, connectivity projects such as Chabahar Port and Chabahar-Zahedan rail project (project discussions are still on) amongst others remain critical.
Israel, UAE and Bahrain Abraham Accord.
- The Abraham Accords are the peace agreements between Israel-UAE and Israel-Bahrain, mediated by the USA. The agreements were signed at the White House on 15 September 2020.
- The Abraham Accords were signed at White House on 15 September 2020 by UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Abraham Accords were negotiated by Jared Kushner and Avi Berkowitz.
- At the signing of the agreement, former US President Donald Trump stated that five other nations could follow.
- On 23 September 2020, US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft stated that a new country will recognize Israel in the next one or two days.
- The name Abraham is to honour the patriarch of three major Abrahamic religions of the world-- Judaism, Islam and Christianity.
Source: The Hindu
