Modi's Op Sindoor Gets Thumbs up from Israel but 'Sultan' & Arabs on Edge

The Netanyahu-led Israeli govt has supported India's 'right for self-defence'. Turkey's Erdogan has rallied for Pak.

The military strikes initiated by India on Pakistan's terror network can potentially churn West Asian geopolitics.

(Photo: Aroop Mishra/The Quint)

How have West Asian countries—a region that is India's extended neighbourhood, and where India and Pakistan both have major stakes— responded to Operation Sindoor?

A fortnight after the Pahalgam killings, in a coordinated tri-services operation, India conducted missile strikes on nine terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK). As per the press briefings by the Indian government, all sites had been identified as terrorist infrastructure—and neither the Pakistani military nor civilian infrastructure was targeted. At least 70 terrorists are reported to have been killed.

Arabs Remain Wary

The first to respond among the Arab world include Qatar, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), along with Israel and Turkiye.

Israel is the only country in the world to have expressed unequivocal support of India's strikes. The Israeli Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, said in a statement on X, “Israel supports India’s right for self-defence. Terrorists should know there’s no place to hide from their heinous crimes against the innocent. #OperationSindoor.”

This is not surprising given Israel is still embroiled in a war with Hamas, after its militants launched a three-pronged attack on Israeli territory in October 2023, killing over a thousand and taking over 200 hostages, including infants and the elderly. Not all hostages have yet been released.

All the Arab countries have voiced concern and called for de-escalation between India and Pakistan.

UAE Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, called on both India and Pakistan to show restraint to prevent further escalation. A statement from his office said, “His Highness reaffirmed that diplomacy and dialogue remain the most effective means of peacefully resolving crises, and achieving the shared aspirations of nations for peace, stability, and prosperity."

In the statement, Al Nahyan further emphasised that the UAE "will continue its efforts to support all initiatives aimed at achieving peaceful resolutions to regional and international conflicts and mitigating their humanitarian consequences."

Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a similar statement voicing concern and called for “resolving the crisis through diplomatic channels”.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasises the urgent need to keep communication channels open between India and Pakistan," the statement said. It also reiterated that Qatar's "full support" for all regional and international efforts aimed at promoting security, peace, and stability in the region."

Oman's Ministry of Foreign Affairs similarly appealed to the two neighbouring countries to halt the dangerous escalation, engage in diplomatic dialogue to reach a resolution, and prioritise political solutions to ensure security, stability, peaceful coexistence, and harmony.

All of these Arab countries have close bilateral relations with both India and Pakistan—and are home to large Indian and Pakistani expatriate communities.

However, the traditional pro-Pakistan policy followed by a majority of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which both the UAE and Qatar are members of, has taken a prominently pro-India tilt over the past decade. This has as much to do with India’s economic and military rise as it has to do with Pakistan's descent into the terror cesspool it has created which, in turn, became a threat for these countries.

Gulf Geopolitics & Indo-Arab Ties

The cosy client-state relationship that Pakistan shared with the Gulf countries by providing military and policing services to them, took a hit when many of these terror groups, or those spawned by them trained their guns on those like the UAE, like Al Qaeda and ISIS. UAE diplomats, for instance, were attacked by militants inside Pakistan and by then Pakistan-backed Taliban in Afghanistan, before Taliban 2.0 took over the country.

A big fillip to the UAE's cooperation with India was the 2008 November terrorist attacks in Mumbai, where the terrorists came from Pakistan via the sea. Such attacks had grave implications for the UAE, which has a long coastline.

Yet another watershed moment in Gulf geopolitics occurred with the Yemen war in 2015, when Pakistan refused to implement its role as the footsoldier of the Saudis and Emiratis against Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Realising they could no longer depend on Pakistan as the rentier state, the GCC countries had to diversify their defence and strategic partnerships. India proved itself a far more promising partner than Pakistan had ever been.

In fact, the UAE had not only played a behind-the-scenes role in de-escalating past conflict and tensions between India and Pakistan, and at times, even adopted a definitive pro-India stance.

The Emirates became the first country to come out in support of India's reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir state in 2019.

Following this, in 2020, it helped diffuse tensions between India and Pakistan which resulted in the ceasefire announced between India and Pakistan in February 2021.

Even earlier in 2019, the UAE (together with the US and Saudi Arabia), helped secure the release of Indian airforce officer Abhinandan. The latter had been captured by the Pakistani military after India launched surgical strikes within Pakistan following an allegedly Pakistan-abetted terror-suicide attack in Kashmir that resulted in the dealths of 40 Indian para-military troops.

The Arab world had also been roiled in 2019 by then Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan shifting loyalties towards Turkey and Malaysia, away from the traditional Sunni powers like Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Turkiye, under its current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has rallied support for Pakistan.

The latter's strategic attempts at positioning himself as an alternative leader of the 'Muslim world' might explain Turkiye's position in the current India-Pakistan crisis.

The Turkish Dark Horse

Turkiye is as yet the only West Asian and Muslim country to come out in support of Pakistan, both after the Pahalgam terror attack as well as following today's Operation Sindoor.

Following the Pahalgam attack, Turkish media, including the state-affiliated outlets, focused on atrocities in Kashmir, and anti-Muslim violence in other parts of India, but observers feel its radio silence on the Pahalgam attack and its victims was meant to be indicative of its geopolitical stance.

Moreover, there have been reports of Turkish arms and military counselors making their way to Pakistan. Turkiye has officially denied this, even though its own media has broadcast it.

In the wake of Operation Sindoor, Turkiye has now publicly and officially come out in support of Pakistan. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan engaged in a phone call with his Pakistani counterpart, Ishaq Dar, to discuss the escalating tensions. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry consequently announced that Turkiye had expressed concern over the deteriorating regional security situation and both nations agreed to remain in close coordination.

Turkiye's response is not really surprising, given its history of geopolitical closeness with Pakistan. Since 2019, however, it has positively upped the antenna on opposing India, especially by prefixing its position on Kashmir, which India maintains is a domestic issue.

Following the former state of J&K's reorganisation in 2019, Turkiye became one of the first nations to call out India on Kashmir and even took the issue to the UN after decades.

A proponent of political Islam, Erdogan has given shelter to members of the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as to those affiliated with it. Turkiye also offers refuge to Kashmiri separatists who often organise conferences and events on Kashmir from Turkish territory, much to New Delhi's chagrin.

These actions converge neatly with the current Turkish aspirations in Asia.

Firstly, Pakistan is a close defence partner and market hub for Turkish arms. Next, as the only nuclear-armed Muslim country, Pakistan can provide Turkiye with the nuclear bomb. Thirdly, Turkiye sees a parallel on its claims on Northern Cyprus with those of Pakistan on Kashmir. And finally, Ankara knows that Pakistan, its army, and demographics can always be put to use in service of Turkiye if necessary in lieu of its all-weather support.

Turkiye's position is neither new nor unexpected. India should carefully calibrate Turkish policy and activities in South Asia, and move beyond the only symbolic gestures of issuing travel advisories for Indian tourists there.

(The author is an award-winning journalist specializing on Eurasian affairs. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)