Abu Dhabi: India’s traditional nonalignment strategic autonomy is being redefined into proactive engagement and power projection for an era of competitive multipolarity, a report has stated.
The recentering of force in Indian foreign policy in the Defence Force vision 2047 document released by the Defence Ministry indicates that strategic autonomy is not merely a defensive plan but is becoming proactive and power projective, a report in Modern Diplomacy mentioned.
“This shift is reinforced by PM Modi’s evolving Middle East policy, which no longer treats the regions merely as a source of energy security and remittances, but as a theatre for strategic projection and security partnerships,” it noted.
India and the UAE signed a strategic defence partnership in May 2026, which aims at deepening defence industrial collaboration.
“The importance of the India-UAE partnership extends beyond bilateral relations. It increasingly complements the broader strategic logic of the I2U2 framework, which links India, the UAE, Israel, and the US through cooperation in technology, connectivity, and logistics,” the report highlighted.
Even though I2U2 is not a military pact, it shows the minilateral architecture that is linking economic integration with strategic coordination.
The strategic petroleum reserves are another important aspect of this partnership, which will enable India to store its oil reserves in UAE’s Fujairah.
“Storing India’s reserves would not only create energy interdependency but also increase long-term stakes to protect the infrastructure and maritime routes. As the Defence Vision 2047 highlights dealing with the emerging conflict spectrum, New Delhi will inevitably protect those reserves, maritime routes and infrastructure,” the Modern Diplomacy report highlighted.
The report described the partnership between India and the UAE as a “flexible alliance without treaty obligations.”
According to the report, unlike the Pakistan-Saudi Arabia defence agreement, the India-UAE deal does not contain any clause that an attack on one is an attack on the other.
The India-UAE partnership, it said, shows the evolution of strategic autonomy, to remain free from binding alliance commitments while becoming a stakeholder in the security architecture of the Middle East.
(IANS)
