Talk about an Islamic NATO abounds in the media, even strategic circles are agog with it. This after a defence agreement between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia last year. And now the buzz about Turkey being part of the ‘discussions’.
The Islamic NATO Rhetoric
So is an Islamic NATO taking shape or are efforts underway at creating one? Ambassador Sunjay Sudhir, who was the Indian envoy to the UAE till September last year, feels ‘Islamic NATO’ is more sound than substance. He does acknowledge the reality that “military equations are changing not only in the Western Hemisphere but also in southern and western Asia.”
But according to him, the so-called Islamic NATO is a tag far removed from the ground. “I think it’s still an evolving formation. Nothing is very clear. And to me, it seems to be more of a response to regional developments,” Ambassador Sudhir told StratNews Global Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale.
He mentioned the regional developments. The October 7, 2023 Hamas assault on Israel, Israel attacking Iran in June last year and then the Israeli strike on Qatar in September last year.
No Comparison With NATO
But he thinks calling it Islamic NATO is a little premature. “It’s more rhetoric rather than something that is institutionalised”. And any comparison with NATO is quite far-fetched.
“The comparison with NATO has no connection with reality. NATO has a strong foundation. It has survived decades, is a treaty organization and has done action on the ground. What we are seeing in West Asia doesn’t yet resemble that.”
Let alone calling it Islamic NATO, Ambassador Sudhir thinks it would be incorrect to generalise the Islamic world as a whole. He points to divergences in threat perception among Islamic nations vis-a-vis Iran, vis-a-vis Israel, political Islam and regional rivalries.
Islamic World Not Homogeneous
The Islamic world is not a homogenous entity; besides, there are competing leadership ambitions within it. How does one reconcile that, asks Ambassador Sudhir, Distinguished Fellow, JSW School of Public Policy, IIM Ahmedabad.
Tune in to this interview where Ambassador Sudhir talks in detail about the India-UAE strategic partnership and why Indians are respected there. Also, why India isn’t too bothered by Chinese inroads into the Gulf.
