Bangladesh, May 19 -- For decades, Indias relationship with the Gulf was viewed through a narrow lens. The Gulf supplied oil, absorbed Indian labor and sent billions of dollars in remittances back home. It was a transactional arrangement shaped by energy dependence and labor migration rather than long-term strategic convergence. That framework no longer explains the reality of the relationship. Today, the Gulf has become indispensable to Indias rise, embedded deeply within the countrys economic expansion, energy security, trade ambitions, financial architecture and geopolitical strategy.

What has emerged over the last two decades is not simply stronger diplomacy between India and the Gulf Cooperation Council. It is the gradual constructi...