NEW DELHI: A day after the BJP suspended a senior functionary and expelled another for hate speech against Prophet Mohammed, the Centre continued to find itself in the line of fire from the Muslim world with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Indonesia and Afghanistan sharing their indignation. On Sunday, Qatar, Kuwait and Iran had done likewise.
Pakistan had joined in as did the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), but both drew sharp rebukes from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), as India calibrated its diplomatic response while emphasising its rejection of prejudice against symbols of Islam.
At stake was not just India’s diplomatic ties but also trade with the Gulf besides sizable remittances from expats. All that had to be salvaged, which was why the MEA scampered to build distance between the government and the suspended BJP’s national spokesperson Nupur Sharma, calling her a fringe element.
Yet, a Kuwaiti supermarket, Al Ardiya Cooperative Society, pulled out Indian products to register its anger. The size of India’s trade with the seven Gulf countries in 2021-22 was around $189 billion, which works out to 18.3% of the nation’s total imports and exports. For the 7.5 million expats living in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) now, it is important that peace prevails both within the GCC and India to keep themselves and their jobs safe.
Besides, the remittances India receives are highest from the Gulf nations with UAE at 27%, Saudi Arabia at 11.6%, Qatar at 6.5%, Kuwait at 5.5% and Oman at 3.3%.
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On the positive side, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has generated a lot of goodwill in West Asia and has made repeated and reciprocal visits to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations. “Modi’s popularity has generated Arab interest about India. Developments in India are closely monitored and reactions follow immediately,’’ said Bobby Naqvi, an expert on Gulf region.
As for Pakistan, the MEA lit into it, saying: “The absurdity of a serial violator of minority rights commenting on the treatment of minorities in another nation is not lost on anyone. The world has been witness to the systemic persecution of minorities including Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and Ahmadiyyas by Pakistan.’’
MEA’s Arindam Bagchi said India accords the highest respect to all religions, which is quite unlike Pakistan where fanatics are eulogised and monuments built in their honour. In a similar withering remark, the foreign office said the OIC Secretariat has chosen to make “motivated, misleading and mischievous comments. This only exposes its divisive agenda being pursued at the behest of vested interests.”
