NEW DELHI: UAE foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan spoke to external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Friday and briefed him on the historic peace agreement signed by the Gulf nation with Israel for normalisation of ties.
Soon after the conversation, Jaishankar tweeted, “Deeply appreciate the call today from FM HH Abdullah bin Zayed of UAE. Discussed the full normalisation of relations between UAE and Israel announced yesterday.”
The Indian government has openly welcomed the agreement, saying, “India has consistently supported peace, stability and development in West Asia, which is its extended neighbourhood. In that context, we welcome the full normalisation of ties between UAE and Israel. Both nations are key strategic partners of India.”
The MEA spokesperson was keen to assert that welcoming the deal would not have any impact on India’s “traditional support for the Palestinian cause”. The spokesperson said, “We hope to see early resumption of direct negotiations to find an acceptable two-state solution.”
Thursday’s historic deal opens the doors to the first big rapprochement between traditional adversaries in West Asia—Israel and the Arabs. UAE is seen as a rising power in the Gulf and normalisation of relations with Israel will give it an edge in regional politics. Israel has agreed to shelve its plan to annex the West Bank which would have been deeply destabilising for the region and a blow to plans to secure some kind of peace with the Palestinians.
With the UAE deal, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu pockets a clear diplomatic victory that would have implications for Israeli domestic politics as well. The deal gives India a unique entry in regional stability — New Delhi’s views on the Gulf and West Asian security are largely compatible with Israel and UAE, inspite of India having a close strategic relationship with Iran.