New Delhi (NVI) When Army Chief General M M Naravane travels to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) tomorrow on a four-day visit, it will mark a huge milestone in India’s ties with the Arab world amid slackening of traditionally strong relations between Pakistan and these two influential nations.
Naravane will be the first Indian Army Chief to visit Saudi Arabia when he embarks on two-day visit in the first leg of the tour and interacts with the top Defence officials of the country.
The visit to these influential Arab countries is expected to result in a boost in defence and security.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE have traditionally enjoyed very close relations with Pakistan and have been its main supporters. However, lately these two nations have been distancing themselves from Pakistan, probably unhappy with Islamabad’s continued support to and sponsoring of terrorism.
Saudi Arabia particularly has made its unhappiness with Pakistan obvious in more than one way.
Firstly, it rebuffed Pakistan’s repeated pleas for convening a special session of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) on Kashmir after Article 370 was abolished in August last year. Saudi Arabia was the Chair of the 57-member grouping of Islamic countries at that time and the onus was on it regarding convening of a special session.
The Saudi rebuff frustrated Islamabad to such an extent that its Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi went to the extent of saying that Pakistan might think of quitting the OIC and floating a separate grouping of Islamic countries.
This outburst angered Saudi Arabia further and it demanded immediate return of one billion dollars of loan which it had given to Pakistan.
Further salt was added to Pakistan’s wounds when its Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa was denied meeting with Saudi Prince Mohammad Bin Salman when he went to Riyadh in an attempt to repair the ties.
In the meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has announced new investments in India, making clear its preferences.
Similarly, relations between India and the UAE have been on the upswing in the last few years. This has particularly helped in addressing India’s concerns regarding its fugitives finding the UAE a safe place for escaping the Indian laws.
Over the last few years, the UAE government has quietly turned over a number of Indian fugitives, including those involved in major scams and terror activities.
This has sent out a message to the fugitives that the UAE is no more a safe haven for them. According to reports, even Dawood Ibrahim, the mastermind of 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, has lately been avoiding travel to the UAE from Pakistan, where is sheltered, because of the fear that he may be handed over to India. Earlier, Dawood used to frequently visit Dubai for his sojourns.
Interestingly, Gen Naravane’s visit to Saudi Arabia and the UAE is taking place at a significant time when the Arab world is witnessing a churning.
More and more countries are shedding their animosity towards Israel and establishing diplomatic ties with it. There are reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently flew secretly to Riyadh to meet the Saudi Prince.
Therefore, the Indian Army Chief’s visit to these influential Arab countries in the changing geo-strategic scenario is expected to be immensely fruitful.
