In recent decades, six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and UAE have emerged as pivotal in West Asia due to their huge sovereign wealth and Petro dollars, reformist policies and fast-moving diversification of their economies and interests beyond the hydrocarbons and regional heft as they continue to play a much bigger role in the global scheme of things.
India and Iran do have a civilisational and strategic partnership which had fallen into disuse due to the consistent US pressure through CAATSA and bilateral negotiations.
For India, a forward-looking policy ecosystem would not only attract more investment but also foster innovation and R&D, essential for its technological advancement.
The helplessness on the part of the Biden Administration to contain the ongoing war for over three months has caused accusations of complicity and a loss of credibility among various regional partners.
Even as the 2023 turned out to be literally the hottest year in history, West Asia continued to face the equally destabilizing heat in the old and new hotspots. The ongoing wars and conflicts do not portend well for 2024.
For a truly global and fair media landscape, western media outlets must adopt a more nuanced, respectful and fact-based approach to reporting on the Global South