The headgear on UAE troops at the back is similar to Indian troops operate in NE, western front or even in J&K
More practical and appropriate according to the climate.
View attachment 370341
View attachment 370342
^^
Hehe ... plastic-black-Sintex-tunnki ... dead give-away
!
UAE can very well afford Volvo-Saab-Mercedes tuck 'tunnnki's'.
Originally, the American moniker 'Middle-East' included, with boundary conditions of India and Egypt. Basically, Britian's 'East-of-Suez' who's capitatatls were Bombay and Calcutta re: West Asia and East Asia. New Delhi was to rule of India.
India's savvy, master politicians careved a distinct identitty by sididng and collaborating with the New World Order of USA and the USSR, the US being the junior partner, and hived and cleaved India into it's own very distinct id. West Pak. (Pakistan) then Bangladesh (East Pak.), and this massively ltd. options for smaller S. Asian states.
100's joined India. Some were debatable like Hyderabad, Junagarh, Pondicherry and Goa. Even J&K. The rest made up a Global powerhouse in the due course of 65 + yrs. of India's existence building a whirlwind id. Phew, today independent India has it's own Global identity and stands on it's own feet among a world of nation states.
Some like Burma, Balochistan, Tibet, Afghanistan, Kalat even Sri Lanka lost out in varying degrees. Nepal also.
It's interesting to consider the reverse of the above. Say Burma, Balochistan and Tibet were part of an un-divided India. Then the middle east may have joined up with such a mega nation. Then Iran, even Iraq and Afghanistan. What would S.Arabia be with such a giant India next to it, and for reasons of modernisation and links going back to antiquity, may have ... anything is possible. Or Israel, Syria, Lebanon. Egypt?
Back to 'East of Suez' idea of the British. On the other Northern side, Tibet to Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan ... after all Baku-Bokhara-Smarkhand-Lahore-Delhi-Kabul (what the Chinese are now calling the New Silk Rd.) are part of Indian and Central Asian folklore. Lot's in common, many of the above now newly independent states send their experts to learn new age ideas of Constitutionalism, Parliamentarian-ism, Media, Bollywood, Labour, Social relations, Stock Market dynamics etc. from and in India re: collaborations.
East, the Japanese had completely ravaged East Asia re: the great war. East, more S-East Asia was saved from the Japanese and the smaller countries there, while having recovered wonderfully from the war, given a chance may have joined up or collaborated strongly with India. They do today nevertheless.
Summarily, India's decision to lose real-estate for the sake of nation building served it well. India's nation building had strong roots in Victorian society and, to give credit where credit is due, elements of said new age world wafted to the old and tired world of India rejuvenating and resurrecting a modern nation state.
Losing good lands (Punjab, Bengal Delta) over schools-universities-golden cities- railways-ports- telegraph-governance systems-factories (first think ordnance factories, then Mrooti-Hiro-Exxxcorts); NO BIG DEAL!
The 21'st Century is a knowledge century where fb, google, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco etc. mean more then good Punjabi land holdings. That's what India's story is ... India's almost caught up with the biggest and the baddest. Almost = 3-5-7 yrs. attenuation or lag time.
After that, anything!