India puts up brave face in light of Saudi largesse

New Delhi: Ahead of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s visit to New Delhi, India on Monday put up a brave face in the face of Saudi Arabia’s announcement of hefty financial assistance to Pakistan which is being seen by some as a setback to New Delhi’s efforts to internationally isolate its neighbour in the wake of the Pulwama attack.

The Saudi crown prince on Monday concluded a visit to Pakistan and headed back home. He will reach New Delhi from Riyadh on Tuesday night and will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. India will strongly raise the issue of cross-border terrorism from Pakistan with the Saudi crown prince. Saudi Arabia has historically enjoyed very close ties with Pakistan.

According to news agen-cy reports from Islam-abad, the Saudi crown prince during his visit to Pakistan inked at least seven MoUs and agreement to make investments worth US$ 20 billion. Saudi Arabia also provided US$ 3 billion loan to Pakistan and another US$ 3 billion oil facility on deferred payment during the past three months.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arab-ia also reportedly said it would try to “de-escalate” tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack. Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs Adel al-Jubeir was quoted by news agencies as saying, “Our objective is to try to de-escalate tensions between the two countries (India and Pakistan), neighbouring countries, and to see if there is a path forward to resolving those differences peacefully. We want both countries to resolve their conflicts and have peaceful relations.”