Crown prince, Modi make dramatic progress in bilateral ties

The horrific violence at Pahalgam last week cut short by a day Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third visit to Saudi Arabia. But even the single day that he spent in Jeddah was sufficient for the Indian leader and his host, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to celebrate the great strides they have made in promoting bilateral relations and to identify new areas to pursue.
The subtitle of their joint statement, “A Historic Friendship, A Partnership for Progress,” captured the spirit that animates the relationship built by these two leaders and gave it substance and direction.
Before the visit was cut short, the prime minister and the crown prince presided over the second meeting of the Saudi-Indian Strategic Partnership Council and decided that, in addition to existing political and economic ministerial committees, two additional committees would be set up, one tasked with defense and security cooperation, the other with tourism and culture.
There has already been rapid and substantial progress in defense cooperation, as exemplified by regular, high-level talks on regional security and military exercises featuring land and sea forces from both countries. The defense industry remains an area of priority interest for the two nations to help promote Saudi self-sufficiency.
And as the Kingdom increasingly opens up historic locations such as AlUla, Hegra, Tabuk and Najran, along with beautiful resorts at Taif, Baha and Abha, to international tourism, the number of visitors from India can be expected to grow significantly, complementing the thousands of Indian pilgrims who already come to the Kingdom each year for Hajj and Umrah.
In terms of investments, the countries have agreed to set up two new oil refineries in India, quickly finalize a bilateral investment agreement and pursue joint ventures in frontier sectors such as technology, digital infrastructure, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, financial technology and health. The Saudi Public Investment Fund now has an India desk to focus on joint projects.
Not surprisingly, the terrorist attacks in Kashmir that cut short Modi’s visit prompted the two leaders to affirm their commitment to combat the forces of extremism and violence, which they described as “one of the gravest threats to humanity.” They rejected “the use of terrorism against other countries” and stressed the need “to prevent access to weapons, including missiles and drones, to commit terrorist acts against other countries.”
As they highlighted their joint efforts in pursuit of regional peace and stability, the two leaders affirmed the importance of their continuing partnerships in the fields of cybersecurity and maritime border security and efforts to combat transnational crime, narcotics and drug trafficking.
It is interesting to note that their joint statement mentioned only two specific issues of regional interest: the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor and Yemen.
Regarding the former, Modi and the crown prince affirmed their “mutual commitment to work together to realize the vision of connectivity as envisaged” by the corridor, along with the development of the attendant infrastructure for rail and port links.

Their joint statement mentioned two specific issues: the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor and Yemen.

Talmiz Ahmad

While the two leaders support the project in principle, logistical links between the major towns and ports of the Arabian Peninsula and West Asia will require a high degree of camaraderie and constructive engagement among the principal regional states, as was the case in the 19th century, when Istanbul and Jerusalem were at the heart of a vast network of rail and sea connectivity.
The reference to Yemen was the result of shared concerns about severe restrictions on global maritime traffic in the Red Sea as a result of persistent attacks by the Houthis on regional shipping. These have harmed the commercial interests not only of India and Saudi Arabia, but all trading nations in Europe and Asia.
The most important aspect of Modi’s visit to Saudi Arabia were his discussions with the crown prince on the regional political situation. Given the sensitive nature of such talks, however, the joint statement merely noted: “Both sides also exchanged views on current regional and international issues of mutual interest.”
The Middle East is in the throes of extraordinary uncertainty. Despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s agreement in January to a ceasefire in Gaza, Israel has continued to launch lethal attacks against Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank. There have also been periodic acts of desecration at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and even provocative statements by extreme right-wing Israeli politicians about the destruction of the holy mosque.
US President Donald Trump has added to this unseemly cacophony by proposing the transfer of the Palestinian population of Gaza to other countries and the transformation of the war-torn wasteland into a “Riviera of the Middle East.”
To further complicate matters, despite ongoing talks between Washington and Tehran on the nuclear issue, there is still no clarity about the possibility of attacks against Iran by Israel and the US if the talks break down.
Given the substantial political and economic stakes for India regarding stability in the Middle East, and the welfare of the nation’s 8 million-strong expatriate community in the region, Modi would have been deeply interested to listen to the crown prince’s assessment of the outlook for regional security.
There would also have been exchanges of views between the two leaders on the implications of Trump’s “tariff wars,” the war in Ukraine, the resilience of the Western alliance and the future of US relations with Russia and China.
There can be little doubt that their discussions will lead to greater clarity on matters of shared interest that are shrouded in so much uncertainty. More importantly, their talks will help ensure that, on many of these issues of mutual concern, their countries are on the same page and will coordinate their policy approaches for mutual benefit in the challenging regional environment.

• Talmiz Ahmad is a former Indian diplomat.