NSA Ajit Doval in Saudi, talks Gulf-India link project

Tribune News Service

Sandeep Dikshit

New Delhi, May 8

National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval met his counterparts from the US and the UAE at a quadrilateral meeting hosted by Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) “to advance their shared vision of a more secure and prosperous Middle East region interconnected with India and the world,” said a US White House readout.

Sudan crisis discussed

Ajit Doval arrived in Saudi Arabia on Sunday amid hectic activity by Saudi and US NSAs to broker a ceasefire and talks between the warring sides in Sudan.

A scoop by US magazine Axios said the meeting would discuss a “possible major joint infrastructure project to connect Gulf and Arab countries via a network of railways that would also be connected to India via shipping lanes from ports in the region”.

The idea for the new initiative came up during talks held over the past 18 months in a forum called the I2U2, which comprises India, Israel, the UAE and the US. Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen will begin his India tour on Tuesday and sign several agreements to promote bilateral interaction in several segments, many of them in the I2U2 rubric.

A hint about the project had come last week from US NSA Jake Sullivan, who headed an American delegation for the Sunday meeting. “If you remember nothing else from my speech, remember I2U2, because you will be hearing more about it as we go forward,” he had said.

But there was much more on the agenda. Doval arrived in Saudi Arabia on Sunday evening amid hectic activity by Saudi and US NSAs to broker a ceasefire and talks between the warring sides in Sudan.

Doval is also among the few of the world’s top interlocutors to have frequently interacted with his counterparts from Iran, Russia, the US, France and the UK. He had recently met his Iranian and Russian counterparts and also called on Presidents of both countries who are off limits for the Western side which has elected to back Kyiv in its conflict with Moscow. Sources said the interactions at various levels are important in the context of EAM S Jaishankar’s observation that India has tried to be useful in the Ukraine conflict.

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