UAE-Israel Agreement & Its Impact On Indo-Pak Conflict

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Agreement

Ashfaq Wani
A landmark agreement was reached between Israel and the United Arab Emirates on Thursday 13 August, according to which Israel will suspend its plans to annex large parts of the West Bank and begin diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Until now, Israel has not had diplomatic relations with most of the Gulf Arab states. However, the peace agreement was announced by US President Donald Trump.

“The normalization of relations between UAE and Israel is a huge breakthrough,’ Trump tweeted, calling it a “Historic Peace Agreement between our two great friends.”

The agreement came after a three-way phone call between Trump, Israeli and Emirati leaders. The UAE is the third Arab nation after Egypt and Jordan to have announced active ties with Israel, according to Al Jazeera.

However, Palestinian leaders are reportedly shocked by the deal. According to Arab News, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has proposed to convene a meeting of the Arab League after the UAE-Israel Agreement.

He fears that after the agreement, other Gulf countries will also have stronger ties with Israel and that this will have an impact on the Arab Peace Initiative.

Polarization Of Islamic Countries

Palestinians watch when US President Donald Trump announced a peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates in the Israeli-administered West Bank city of Hebron.

In a way, their concern is justified. The initial reaction of other Islamic countries to the UAE’s decision is not encouraging. However, Egypt and Jordan welcome UAE decision.

This development will affect relations between the Gulf countries, the Middle East, and other countries of the world, including India.

With this new agreement, polarization is visible in the Islamic world.

At present, the Muslim countries of the world are clearly divided into three camps.

In the first camp, some countries seem to stand with Iran, which has a strong position on Israel.

The second camp is led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and the third group is from Turkey, Malaysia, and Pakistan. Overall, this decision will further increase the division of the Islamic world, according to analysts.

Effect of UAE-Israel agreement on India?

In such a situation, the question arises as to what effect this decision will have on India. According to analysts, India has good relations with both Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Israel and India share a common vision for regional security in the Middle East. The UAE is an emerging power. Therefore, if these two countries are coming together, India will welcome it.

But will the normalization of relations between the two countries have any impact on Pakistan?

 Analysts are of the opinion that Pakistan has isolated itself along with China. But one cannot deny the fact that Islamic countries will always be dominated by Pakistan. Pakistan is the only Islamic country to have nuclear power. Because of this, it has a different status in Islamic countries. If Pakistan is a little isolated today, it is because of its own policies.

Earlier Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were considered to be with Pakistan, but for some time now their relations with India have been much better than that with Pakistan.

The meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) last year in which India was invited as a special observer even though Pakistan did not want it. Pakistan was against the invitation but the UAE did not pay any heed.

Is Pakistan Losing Saudi Arabia Because Of India?

It was for the first time in the last five decades that India was invited to the summit by OIC. India attended the summit despite Pakistan raising criticism at the highest level that didn’t warrant any attention from the Muslim bloc.

Recently, when Pakistan raised questions in the OIC about the repeal of Article 370 in the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir, Saudi Arabia made it clear that it was an internal matter of India.

In 2019, the UAE awarded Prime Minister Modi the country’s highest civilian honour.

All these developments show that India’s relations with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have been very good and if any kind of agreement is reached with Israel, then, of course, India will stand with this group of Islamic countries.

Analysts see another major impact of this decision on India. In recent days, India and Israel have signed a number of agreements on defence equipments.

Gulf countries are considered a major market for military hardware. In such a situation, there will be no problem in selling whatever military equipment India will build with the help of Israel.

The Indian Defence Minister has also raised the slogan of ‘Self-Reliance India’ in the defence sector and blocked the import of over 100 equipments.

Saudi Arabia In The Row After UAE?

The friendship between the UAE and Saudi Arabia is also famous. In such a situation, most people think that Saudi Arabia will follow in the footsteps of the United Arab Emirates.

But analysts hold a slightly different opinion. They believe that Saudi Arabia may not be fully open to relations with Israel. When it comes to religious issues, everyone in the Middle East looks to Saudi Arabia. For this reason, given Israel’s past history, it may be difficult for Saudi Arabia to openly support Jews, even though politically Saudi Arabia has been with Israel for many years.

Saudi Arabia has allowed India to use its airspace to launch an airline between India and Israel. This is an example of how the Saudi attitude toward Israel has changed.

Israel and Saudi Arabia’s Friendship Bond

Analysts are of the view that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants Saudi Arabia to be with Israel. However, his resignation is currently being demanded in Israel. He is accused of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, as well as mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic. In such a situation, he wants more good relations with Arab countries, the more successful they will be in isolating the Palestinians, and the easier it will be for Israel to create a positive environment.

Moreover, both Israel and Saudi Arabia consider Iran their enemy. In this regard, there has been mutual cooperation between the two in the last few years.

Iran’s enmity with other countries in the Arab world is based on religion. Iran is a Shiite-majority country, while Saudi Arabia is a Sunni-majority country.

As a friend of the United States, Israel has always been a target of Iran. Following the US-Israel-UAE deal, the conflict between Iran and Israel will likely escalate.

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