New Delhi: India is now aggressively seeking a greater strategic role for itself in the Middle East along with Saudi Arabia, UAE and the US even as New Delhi is watching with “concern” the increasing influence of Beijing in that region, ABP Live has learnt. This is the reason why National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Sunday held a meeting with Saudi Prime Minister and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan and US NSA Jake Sullivan.
For India, this is the second such initiative when it has sought to engage more deeply in the affairs of the Middle East. India along with the US, Israel and the UAE are also part of the I2U2 initiative that began in 2022, which came to be known as the ‘Middle East Quad’.
However, the I2U2 is purely focused on business and trade within these four countries while the new initiative, which has yet not been granted an official nomenclature, will shape up to be more of a strategic or military alliance, intelligence sources told ABP Live.
According to the sources, the initiative was driven jointly by the Saudis and the Americans in an effort to create a “robust front” against Iran even though Riyadh and Tehran have arrived at an “understanding” of sorts brokered by Beijing.
Sunday’s meeting that took place in Jeddah might also pave the way for a leaders’ meeting late in the year wherein the heads of state of these countries will lay down the roadmap of the grouping.
According to a statement issued by Riyadh, the meeting was aimed at discussing ways to strengthen relations between the participating countries to “enhance growth and stability” in the region.
The White House said Sunday’s meeting was conducted to “advance their shared vision of a more secure and prosperous Middle East region interconnected with India and the world.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to undertake a visit to Saud Arabia next month to take stock of the progress being made on the Global Coalition against ISIS/ Daesh, which was formed in September 2014.
Doval and Sullivan held a bilateral meeting also on the margins of the Jeddah meeting. They will meet again in Australia on the sidelines of the Quad Summit later this month.
Sullivan and the Saudi Crown Prince also reviewed significant progress in talks further to consolidate the now 15-month-long truce in Yemen, the White House statement said.
US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Michael Ratney, National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East Brett McGurk, and US senior adviser for energy security Amos Hochstein also attended the meeting in Jeddah.
Talmiz Ahmad, a veteran diplomat and former Indian envoy to Saudi Arabia, said, “This is a desperate attempt by the US to become involved in West Asia now that China has come forward and got the peace deal done between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The US’s original plan to create a military alliance against Iran has collapsed so now it is in a state of panic and wants to drag India also in.”
Ahmad, who has also authored the book, West Asia At War: Repression, Resistance and Great Power, also said, “For India, this is being part of the multi-alignment. It is important for India to deal with China bilaterally and play its card cautiously when it comes to the Middle East.”
Early last month, in a major rapprochement the Foreign Ministers of Saudi Arabia and Iran held official-level talks for the first time since 2016 facilitated by China under a deal brokered in March. Keeping their acrimony aside, Riyadh and Tehran also said they will reopen their diplomatic missions in each other’s countries and resume flights.