The Middle East region plays a vital role in India's economy as it supplies nearly two-thirds of India's total oil import, bilateral trade is also flourishing in recent years particularly with UAE and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf. Over the years, millions of Indians mostly working class have migrated to the Persian Gulf region looking for jobs and they account for a sizeable share in the total remittances received from abroad. Indian External Affairs Ministry refers the region as West Asia and not as Middle East which is a more popular attribution, particularly in the Western countries.
Link West policy
In an attempt to strengthen ties with India's western neighbours, especially the Persian Gulf countries, Modi proposed this policy to complement his Act East policy concerning East Asia. Although it is called "Link West" (west of India) which gives it a bigger geographical connotation, it is most likely to focus on the middle-east and some of the India's strategic thinkers are calling it as Modi's middle-east policy.
Bahrain
Swaraj choose Manama, Bahrain for her first visit to the Persian Gulf. The visit marked the first high level exchange from Modi govt to any Arab states following apprehension of less priority given to the Indo-Arab relation under Modi administration. The island country with a significant population of Indian origin people has extensive trade and business ties with India. There addressing at a business meet the minister reiterated "Our government is firmly committed to bring back growth, have clear policies which will facilitate business environment, transparency and speed, well thought out decisions". In order to boost maritime cooperation with the Persian Gulf countries India sent ICGS Vijit, a Vishwast class offshore patrol vessel, to a 4 nations friendly visit including Bahrain in late December 2014.
Iraq
Iraqi Kurdistan
Prior to the Modi administration, there had been limited diplomatic relations between India and Iraqi Kurdistan. India purchases Kurdish crude oil sold through Turkish companies. Several Indian citizens work in Iraqi Kurdistan. Many Kurds travel to India for educational or medical purposes. In July 2014, Hemin Hawrani, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party's international relations wing, told The Hindu that he hoped for deeper political and economic ties with India, describing the country as "an important partner". Hawrani also expressed his desire to see the Indian government open a consulate in Erbil, and invited Indian companies to invest in Kurdistan. In November 2014, the Indian government sent special envoy Ambassador Suresh K. Reddy to visit Kurdistan and meet Kurdish government officials. Reddy stated that India "fully supports the Kurdistan Region during this difficult time", and expressed confidence in the Kurdish government and the Peshmerga forces to preserve the stability and security of the region. The Ambassador also praised the role of Peshmerga forces in fighting ISIL, and announced that the Indian government would open a consulate in Kurdistan.
Israel
Israel is one of India's most important strategic partner and major source of its military hardware. Relation is expected to flourish with Modi government as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is known for its pro-Israeli stands and in favor of strengthening ties with Israel. Sushma Swaraj, who was chairperson of the 'India-Israel parliamentary friendship group', visited Israel earlier and called Israel a "reliable partner" besides expressing her admiration for former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir.
In September 2014, Modi met his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in the first interaction between the premiers of the two countries in 11 years with the leader of the Jewish state saying that "sky is the limit" for bilateral relations. Later on India has decided to buy Israeli anti-tank Spike missile instead of Javelin missile offered by the US which signifies the depth of Israel-India bilateral relation specially with BJP government in New Delhi. The contract is expected to be worth $525 million, with this Israel is India's second largest arm supplier after Russia.