India’s Strategic Pathways: Enhancing Land and Maritime Connectivity With the Middle East

India’s changing approach to the Middle East, termed as West Asia in Indian strategic perceptions, is a manifestation of a fundamental shift of postcolonial idealism to pragmatic, multipolar statecraft. This chapter examines how connectivity has become the main axis of India’s contemporary foreign policy toward the region, including physical, maritime, digital and energy linkages. The chapter starts by tracing the diplomatic path of India between 1947 and the present, with main focus on the following phases: Nehruvian anti-colonial solidarity, post-1970s energy diplomacy, post-Cold War pragmatism and the multidimensional policy of Link West imperative launched by PM Modi. Central to this transformation are such initiatives as the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC), Chabahar Port and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) which place India as a crucial link between Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. The chapter makes the argument that connectivity serves as an instrument of autonomy and influence and thus enables India to deal with great power rivalries and secure energy security and stability in this region. India by leveraging partnerships with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, Israel, Iran and multilateral formats like I2U2 are trying to build a rules-based, inclusive connectivity framework that adds to the multipolarity and resiliency of the global supply chains. This chapter argues that India’s connectivity paradigm reflects a ‘3C’ paradigm of ‘coherence, continuity and credibility’ which transformed the Middle East from a periphery energy supplier to a pivotal centerpiece of the India’s strategic, economic and technological ambitions.