What the Israel-UAE Agreement Means for Asian Powers
THE DIPLOMAT
On August 13 Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced that they planned to normalize relations. The declaration received an enthusiastic welcome from Washington, which saw it as a ”huge win” for President Donald Trump. Since then, there has been a lot of attention given to the regional repercussions of the agreement, including the implications for the Palestinians as well as other Arab Gulf states.
Further afield, other Asian powers weighed up the announcement from their own perspective. Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishanker has said that it presents “opportunities” while the Chinese response has been more vague. Of the two, the more cautious China response seems grounded on whether the so-called Abraham Accord is externally focused and offensive, particularly in relation to the common rival for Israel, the UAE, and the United States: Iran.
