Paper Title
India And Persian Gulf Region: Emergence Of ‘Act West’ Policy Under Modi Government

Abstract
Since the dawn of history, India and Persian Gulf region have been in contact with each other in terms of trade, economic, cultural and political relations. However, the independence India could not establish the same kind of relationship with the region as it was established by British India. Gradually, India started projecting its power in the neighbouring region by the beginning of the 21st century that reached to its zenith under the leadership of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and continued by successive governments. Under the current PM Modi leadership, India has been pro-actively working to enhance its sphere of influence in world politics. The Modi government has started ‘Act West’ or ‘Link West’ policy to connect the region. Thus, the Gulf region became one of the high priority areas of India’s foreign policy to accrue the potentials of the region. Taking a strong cognizant of rejuvenated ‘Act West’ policy, PM Modi himself visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE to upgrade the relationship into deeper and strategic partnership. The paper focuses on the ‘historical setting’ to understand the relationship of India and Gulf region along with the revival of relationship in the 21st century under Modi government.