Joe Biden to reset ties with Saudi Arabia at 1st Western Quad meet

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New Delhi, June 15

There is considerable anticipation around US President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel, Palestine and Saudi Arabia next month during which he will meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom he had promised to make a “pariah” and “pay a price” after he won the Presidential elections.

Biden will also participate in the first leader-level virtual summit of the “I2-U2” grouping of Israel, India, UAE and the US. It is also called the Western Quad. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually participate as will the UAE ruler while Biden and Israeli Naftali Bennett may sit alongside in Tel Aviv.

Great interest hinges around both multilateral meetings — the “I2-U2” summit meeting as well as the summit of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council plus Egypt, Iraq and Jordan, known as the GCC+3).

A senior White House official said the new initiative, which will get upgraded to summit level, will discuss security and “areas of cooperation across hemispheres where the UAE and Israel serve as important innovation hubs”. As the focus of the GCC+3 is Iran with which India is close, it remains to be seen how the security imperatives of this grouping could be kept watertight from that of the Western Quad or the I2-U2. The official said, “The leaders will discuss the food security crisis and other areas of cooperation across hemispheres where the UAE and Israel serve as important innovation hubs.”

Asked if Biden still believed that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was responsible for the killing, White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre said, “The President is focused on getting things done for the American people…If he determines that the interests of the US to engage with a foreign leader and that such an engagement can deliver results, then he’ll do so.”

Besides Israel and Saudi Arabia, Biden will also travel to West Bank to meet Palestinian leaders, recommitting the US to a two-state solution.

Changing stance

• Biden’s visit to Saudi will be a comedown as it will mark an end to his tough posturing over human rights concerns since the 2018 killing of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi
• The US has imposed sanctions and visa restrictions on 70 Saudi individuals and entities for their alleged involvement in the murder
• Now it appears the US will give short shrift to these concerns in view of raging domestic inflation