New Delhi: Pakistan’s efforts to use Saudi Arabia to neutralise a diplomatic onslaught by India following Feb. 14 Pulwama attack was checkmated by New Delhi with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) going home for a day before arriving in New Delhi on the second leg of a three-nation Asian tour.
India conveyed to the Saudi authorities that a visit to New Delhi by Crown Prince Salman, also known as MBS, immediately following a stop in Islamabad, would not be acceptable to India, a person familiar with the matter said.
The Saudi Crown Prince then went home for a day before reaching India later today (Feb. 19th) in what is seen as a de-hyphenation of relations between India and Pakistan.
Saudi investment in India is different from the investment of $20 billion in Pakistan, given that the Indian economy is a very robust economy and any money put into India was not a “bailout” of any kind, said the person mentioned above.
The visits by MBS to Pakistan, India and China, as well as other countries was planned before the Feb. 14 Pulwama attack in which a suicide bomber killed more than 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel. The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack.
On Friday, India announced plans to diplomatically isolate Pakistan but the visit by MBS and the signing of pacts that enable $20 billion in investments has been highlighted by Pakistan media and the government as a sign that India’s designs had not succeeded.
MBS, who arrives in India late today (Feb. 19th) will be given a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host him at lunch and President Ram Nath Kovind will host an official banquet, said T.S. Tirumurti, Secretary, Economic Relations, in the Indian Foreign Ministry.
“Saudi Arabia is a strategic partner in our extended neighbourhood. The Riyadh Declaration of 2010 had forged a strategic partnership between India and Saudi Arabia,” Tirumurti said, adding that since the 2016 visit to Riyadh by Prime Minister Modi, “there has been an intensification of our engagement.”
Saudi Arabia has now identified India among eight countries with which it wants to intensify its strategic partnership in the political, security, trade and investment and culture spheres, Tirumurti said.
This post was published on February 19, 2019 6:40 pm