India and Gulf should improve communication: Expert

Though India and the Arab world has had cordial relationship for long, there is a need to improve mutual communication to understand each other better and reinforce cultural ties, according to veteran Saudi journalist and commentator Khaled Al Maeena.
Talking on "Gulf state and West Asia's relationship with India" at the Press Clun here today, Al Maeena said despite the long association between the two sides, the perception of each other was formed by images created by the Western media.
"Though India and the Gulf states have no political issues between them, the image of each other is often shaped by the Western media," Al Maeena said.

"Improvement in communication between the two sides would help each other understand better," Al Maeena, Editor-in-Chief of Saudi Gazette, said.
For instance, he said, the Gulf states were generally depicted by the Western media as places where foreign workforce was exploited. But the reality was that hard work and entrepreneurship of people from different countries, including India, was a key factor in the growth of the Gulf economies. Similarly, the perception of India as a country that sent cheap labour was also wrong.
"India should be looked from a different lens, as a country moving fast," Al Maeena said
Responding to questions on rise of militancy in West Asia, he said giving a role for the youth in decision-making would help tackle this problem to an extent.

He said the sharp fall in crude oil price was unlikely to shatter the economy of the Gulf as most of them have diverted into different channels of economic activity like Dubai. But this was a wake up call to these countries to work on a national budgets factoring in the emerging challenges, he added.