The book brings together study and discussion on a variety of topics centered on India and the Gulf region. It covers a wide range of themes, from historical to modern, embracing all elements and focusing specifically on the ramifications for India. The Gulf Studies Program (GSP), Centre for West Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, has been conducting multidisciplinary research and teaching on the history, politics, society, economy, strategy, and foreign policy of the nine Gulf countries, namely the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, Iran, Iraq, and Yemen. Since 1993, the GSP has been publishing working/occasional papers on a variety of topics, including the aforementioned fields as well as bilateral ties between India and the Gulf states covering Indian workers, energy security, trade, investments, and also on issues of maritime security. Seminars and conferences on pertinent topics are held on a regular basis, with a focus on the importance of bilateral connections with India and vice versa. Since 2015, the GSP has been organizing a number of seminars and symposiums. The papers/articles presented in these seminars and conferences by the program’s faculty members, visiting faculty, and researchers have been compiled in the present volume with the goal of extending the benefits of the seminars and symposiums to a wider audience.
This book will be of great interest to the researchers, diplomats, journalists, students, and others interested in the study of bilateral ties between India and the Gulf states. It is hoped that the seminar and other related articles will arouse more Indian interest in Gulf issues and promote a better understanding of the complex challenges, faced in this important region. It is also hoped that it will inspire interested people to conduct further in-depth research on the topics.
Aftab Kamal Pasha, M.A. (Middle Eastern Studies and Political Science), M.Phil., Ph.D., retired as a Professor from JNU in 2021. He has previously taught at the Centre of West Asian Studies, Aligarh Muslim University, India; Cairo University; and AUC, Egypt. He has been a Research Fellow at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University, Egypt. He has served as Chairperson and Director, Gulf Studies Program (GSP), at Centre for West Asian Studies (CWAS), School of International Studies (SIS), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. He has also been Director, Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture, Embassy of India, Cairo, Egypt. He is associated with the Gulf Research Centre, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He has been to the St. Cloud State University, Minnesota, USA as Visiting Professor under Fulbright Scheme. His research, teaching, and writing focused on West Asia and North Africa, and he has authored, edited, co-edited over thirty books on India, Gulf, West Asia, and North Africa, and contributed chapters to over hundred edited books. He has contributed over hundred research articles to several national and international journals. He is associated in different capacities with several national and international journals.
