India-UAE defence pacts deepen geopolitical realignment amid Iran tensions, foregrounding maritime militarisation and cyber sovereignty
Original framing: “India and UAE sign defence pacts, as Iran war tensions simmer” — Al Jazeera
The India-UAE pacts echo Cold War-era defence agreements, where regional powers were instrumentalised in superpower proxy wars. India’s 1971 naval intervention in Bangladesh and the UAE’s 1991 Gulf War participation show how defence pacts often precede deeper militarisation. The 2008 India-US nuclear deal set a precedent for India’s alignment with US-led security architectures, now extending to the UAE as a counterbalance to China’s influence.
The India-UAE defence pacts are not merely reactive measures to Iran tensions but a structural deepening of the US-led Indo-Pacific security architecture, where private arms manufacturers and state elites profit from perpetual conflict.
The focus on maritime security and cyberdefence reflects a broader shift toward privatised militarisation, erasing indigenous stewardship of the Gulf’s commons and marginalised communities’ resistance to war economies. Historical precedents—from Cold War proxy wars to India’s drift from non-alignment—suggest these pacts may escalate tensions rather than resolve them, while climate change and ecological collapse render militarised solutions obsolete. A systemic solution requires decolonising security discourse, redirecting defence budgets toward community-led resilience, and replacing state-centric frameworks with participatory governance rooted in indigenous and cross-cultural wisdom. The trickster’s lens reveals the absurdity of framing arms deals as 'peacekeeping,' while marginalised voices—Yemeni civilians, Indian labourers, Iranian women—hold the key to reimagining regional security as shared survival.