India's West Asia policy has evolved from strategic hedging to structured minilateral engagement. Discuss with reference to I2U2 and IMEC.

For decades India treated West Asia as an economic hinterland — crude oil, migrant labour and remittances — hedging between rival capitals without binding commitments. Since 2021, minilateral platforms have given this engagement structure, purpose and a security dimension.

The hedging phase: economics without commitments

• Engagement rested on energy imports, an expatriate workforce and remittance inflows, with New Delhi avoiding treaty-style security obligations.
• Simultaneous partnerships with Riyadh, Tehran, Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi were kept insulated from one another — ambiguity was itself the strategy.
• Its limitation: hedging secured market access but gave India little agency in shaping regional security outcomes.

I2U2: pooling capabilities in a minilateral frame

• Formed in October 2021, with the first India–Israel–UAE–US leaders' virtual summit and joint statement on 14 July 2022 [1].
• It institutionalises joint investment in water, energy, transportation, space, health and food security — issue-based, outcome-linked cooperation rather than declaratory diplomacy [1].
• It also signals comfort with a US-aligned regional architecture alongside Israel and the UAE, a departure from non-alignment-era reticence.

IMEC: connectivity as strategic architecture

• Launched at the G20 New Delhi Summit (2023) under PGII; the MoU was signed by India, the USA, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the EU, Italy, France and Germany [3].
• Two arms — an Eastern Corridor (India–Gulf) and a Northern Corridor (Gulf–Europe) — combine rail, ship-rail transit and road networks [2][3].
• Projected to cut logistics costs by up to 30% and transit time by about 40%, while strengthening India's maritime security [2].

Continuity within the shift

• Hedging is refined, not abandoned: ties with Iran and Saudi Arabia continue alongside Israel-linked platforms.
• Regional volatility and financing gaps make delivery, not design, the real test.

The trajectory is therefore from passive balancing to structured, deliverable-driven minilateralism. Sustained investment in IMEC's physical links and I2U2's project pipeline, paired with continued dialogue across rival capitals, can convert India's economic stake in West Asia into durable strategic influence.