US, India, and UAE NSAs meet with Crown Prince Salman

Countering Chinese growing footprint in the Middle-East. National Security Advisors of US, India, UAE met with Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia Crown Prince and Prime Minister, on Sunday to cement engagement of India with the region and the US.

The most significant meeting, after China brokered peace between Saudi Arabia and Iran on March 10, took place in Saudi Arabia with an objective of further expanding “shared vision of a more secure and prosperous Middle east region interconnected with India and the World.”

The meeting was attended by US NSA Jake Sullivan, Indian NSA Ajit Doval, UAE NSA Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman playing the gracious host.

While New Delhi is tight-lipped about the meeting, US NSA Sullivan had a bilateral meeting with NSA Doval to review decisions taken in their last meeting on February 1 and meet again on the margins of the QUAD summit in Sydney in Australia on May 24. US NSA had bilateral meetings with both his Saudi and UAE counterparts in an effort to repair the strained American relations with the Sunni world.

The India-US engagement has stepped up in the run up to the QUAD summit with Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra scheduled to visit Washington for the first ever dialogue on strategic trade on May 11-12 with his US counterparts. This dialogue will help India get high end technology from US companies for “Atmanirbhar Bharat” vision of PM Narendra Modi.

According to the US readout of the crucial Saudi Arabia meeting, Crown Prince Salman and NSA Sullivan reviewed the progress made to consolidate the truce in Yemen. While Sullivan and Doval thanked the Crown Prince for evacuation of their nationals from war hit Sudan, the four delegations agreed to maintain regular consultations and follow-up of matters discussed and decisions taken in the meeting.

Before visiting Saudi Arabia, NSA Doval held bilateral talks in Iran with his counterpart.