In his keynote address at The Claridges, New Delhi, during the Strategic Dialogue jointly convened by India’s World and the CSDR on “Looking and Acting West: The Past, Present & Future of India–Middle East Ties”, Amb. Sanjay Bhattacharyya highlighted three broad strands of regional development in the Middle East: regional geopolitical shifts, the role of influential peripheral countries he referred to as “islands,” and the persistent challenge of radicalism. He then elaborated on how India engages with the region in light of these dynamics.