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FRONT-PAGEIndia eyes Saudi help against militants
Monday, 01 Mar, 2010 | 02:26 AM PST |
RIYADH, Feb 28: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh began the first visit to Saudi
Arabia by an Indian leader since 1982 seeking to build economic ties and to
enlist the kingdom’s help in improving regional security.
Saudi Arabia has close ties with Pakistan and has also been cited as a possible
mediator in any political settlement with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Some analysts had argued India should build its own relationship with Saudi
Arabia, in part to ensure it does not lose out to Pakistan as countries
position themselves for an eventual end to the eight-year-old Afghan war.
In an interview with Saudi journalists, Mr Singh said he planned to discuss
regional stability, which along with the Afghan war is complicated by a
standoff between Iran and the West over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
“I propose to review the regional scenario, and discuss how we can work
together to address the complex issues at hand,” he said of his talks with King
Abdullah.
Junior Foreign Minister Shashi Tharoor said India could seek Saudi support in
persuading Pakistan to act against Pakistan-based militant groups, adding
however that this did not mean looking for Saudi mediation.
“Saudi Arabia of course has a long and close relationship with Pakistan but
that makes Saudi Arabia all the more a valuable interlocutor for us,” Mr
Tharoor told Indian reporters.
“When we tell them about our experience, Saudi Arabia listens as somebody who
is not anyway an enemy of Pakistan but rather as a friend of Pakistan, and
therefore I am sure listens with sympathy and concern to a matter of this
nature.”
Mr Singh also said India wanted to strengthen energy ties with Saudi Arabia,
its biggest supplier of oil. Like China, India is constantly working to secure
energy supplies for its growing economy.
“We believe that conditions are ripe for moving beyond a traditional
buyer-seller relationship to a comprehensive energy partnership,” he said.
“Indian companies are well-equipped to participate in upstream and downstream
oil and gas sector projects in Saudi Arabia,” he told business leaders.
Mr Singh is the first Indian prime minister to visit Saudi Arabia since Indira
Gandhi in 1982. His trip coincides with a renewed focus on regional alliances
and rivalries as countries in the region manoeuvre for influence ahead of a
2011 deadline set by US President Barack Obama for starting to draw down troops
in Afghanistan.—Reuters
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