NEW DELHI: Saudi Arabia and India are boosting their geopolitical weight through strategic cooperation, analysts told Arab News after the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The crown prince and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi co-chaired the first meeting of the India-Saudi Strategic Partnership Council on Monday as part of the former’s visit to New Delhi, which saw both countries sign around 50 initial pacts and agree to form a joint task force for a $100 billion Saudi investment in India.
The crown prince’s state visit came immediately after the weekend summit of the Group of 20 biggest economies in the Indian capital, which analysts said is indicative of the importance placed on bilateral relations by the two countries.
“Symbolism lies in the fact that he was there for the G20 and he was the only world leader who was accorded the status of the state visit,” Navdeep Singh Suri, former Indian diplomat and an expert on the Middle East, told Arab News. “That indeed is something quite remarkable, considering the G20 top leaders were there.”
Saudi Arabia and India could bring a positive impact to the region by working closer together, Suri said.
“Middle powers like India and Saudi Arabia want to work together to create more options, to create more autonomy for their own actions,” Suri said.
“When you have two large countries collaborating closely and developing strategic relationships, it has positive implications not just for two of them but for the broader region as well.”
Mohammed Soliman, director at the Middle East Institute, told Arab News that stronger Saudi-India relations, which have been reinforced across multiple areas, including in both physical and digital infrastructure as well as innovation in high-tech sectors, food security and defense, also help boost their geopolitical weight in Asia.
“The visit reaffirms the two regional powers’ commitment to creating integration between West Asia and the Indo-Pacific as well as the importance of their role in shaping the development of a transregional economic and security framework suitable for this multipolar age,” Soliman said.
“Saudi Arabia and India are ramping up cooperation on strategic issues that are greatly important to regional stability and integration … Both nations see bilateral ties as a vehicle to not only supercharge their respective economies but to also assert geopolitical leadership in the region.”
