160 results found
As per the OPEC deal, Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter and OPEC’s biggest producer and the de facto leader had to cut output by 4,86,000 barrels per day (bpd) to a ceiling of 1,00,58,000 bpd.
The 12-point resolution approved by Pakistan's Parliament said that Islamabad must maintain "neutrality" in the Yemen conflict. Pakistan has good reasons to have rejected what could have become a quagmire for its forces. But, it has angered Pakistan's friends, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Emirates.
With Saudi Arabia now so fearful of a rising Iran, it is quite clearly Pakistan's payback time. And Yemen could mark the beginning of a new and more significant phase in Pakistan's involvement in the security politics of the Gulf.
Saudi Arabia's recent $1.5 billion grant to Pakistan re-affirms the depth of the relationship that the two countries share. It has also brought into focus their expanding defence ties and raised concerns about Pakistan's possible role in the Syrian civil war.
Saudi Arabia has been seemingly distancing itself from Pakistan, as there have been various instances of it forging strategic business ties with India
India’s tilt towards Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE is not a risk-free move.
On the diplomatic front, India has been careful to nurture its ties with Doha, even as our relations with the UAE and Saudi Arabia showed a dramatic upswing.
In November 2022, Qatar will become the first state in West Asia and the Arab world to host the coveted FIFA football World Cup. Doha’s winning the hosting rights has brought the country—home to only 2.9 million people, more than eight out of every ten of whom are foreign workers—out of the shadow of its large, and more powerful regional neighbours such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This brief views thi
What is interesting for Russia is how greater cooperation with Iran will affect its ties with other Middle Eastern nations, such as both Saudi Arabia and Israel, which has been a vocal opponent of a nuclear deal with Iran. Israel however does not occupy a special position in Russia's foreign relations as it does for the United States.
Visuals of the strike, reportedly conducted via drones and/or missiles, appear to show the plant on fire and the attack is reported to have led to a 5% drop in global oil production.
While the ongoing geopolitical tremors will cloud much of MBS’s visit, India and Saudi Arabia have witnessed a pivotal shift over the past decade or
By bringing China and Russia into the region and by developing strategic partnerships with important players such as India, Riyadh is signalling its intent to reduce its dependence on the US. Mohammed bin Salman is looking at a policy of multi-alignment that affords greater strategic autonomy.
The NDA government has not devoted sufficient attention to the Middle East in 2014. As New Delhi turns to the Gulf in 2015 and tends to its high stakes in the region, an intensive engagement with Saudi Arabia must be at the top of PM Narendra Modi's diplomatic priorities.
Although Saudi’s funds fit Sri Lanka’s investment needs, it could have unwittingly facilitated the Beijing-Riyadh strategic partnership.
Everywhere in Syria the grand conspiracy of the US, Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to overthrow the Assad regime is feverishly discussed. Turkey reportedly tried to mediate in this crisis by suggesting that Muslim Brotherhood should be included in the negotiations, but Damascus refused since the Brotherhood is a religious grouping.
Saeed Naqvi, Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, traveled to Bahrain, Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, Baghdad, Najaf, Amman, Cairo, Jerusalem and Ramallah after the Arab Spring broke out. Earlier, he visited Tunisia, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Western Sahara and Libya. In this paper, he shares his first-hand experiences and discussions with leaders and diplomats, many of whom have requested anonymity. This paper follows
The West has finally woken up to something that strategic analysts in India have been saying for decades: Saudi Arabia funded the Pakistani nuclear programme. In this connection, we have three questions to analyse; First, how valid is this information? Second, how is it then that Saudi Arabia gets away with so much? Third, why is Nato and Israeli intelligence taken seriously but not the Indians?
The American political landscape has been witnessing a great divide due to the growing immigration problem and the US’ support to ongoing wars.
A fast-changing game of geopolitics is also changing one of the US' oldest and most consequential strategic relationships in the Middle East
Ukraine and the US alike see opportunity in the Global South’s multipolarity, because the so-called ‘Global South’ is presenting itself as one
King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia is to be complimented for his vision and initiative. The vision that something was seriously amiss within the comity of Muslim nations, and the initiative to call them together in an extraordinary summit of the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Conference) to cogitate on the seriousness of the situation and to come forth with meaningful remedies.
On the eve of his recent visit to India, in an interview to an Indian newspaper, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia remarked that "India should have an observer status in the Organisation of the Islamic Conference similar to that held by Russia." He added it would be "beneficial" if India's entry was proposed "by a nation like Pakistan."
Iran’s oil sales are at a five-year high as the US looks the other way despite sanctions. Iran is smartly undercutting Russia in selling cheaper oil and upset Saudi Arabia’s plan to profiteer from production cuts. The new world order being shaped amid the US-China battle for global supremacy equally belongs to countries charting independent paths
The crux of this visit should be seen from the view of what kind of tectonic changes MBS succeeds in bringing to Saudi Arabia.
Journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder has triggered a power struggle and the future of the ailing Saudi king and his overambitious son could be at stake.
MBS’ tour is an important one as it goes beyond the bilateral ties and at a time when anti-Saudi sentiment is at an all-time high in Washington, it has sent an important signal that Riyadh is intent on diversifying its partners.
For over seven decades the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia took justifiable pride in the stability of its political system, the tranquility of its social scene, and the in the overall loyalty of its citizenry. The compelling simplicity of the Saudi flag reflected the cohesion. Occasional murmurs of discontent, and an eruption or two in recent decades, did not belie this judgment.
An unresolved and unaddressed Iran–Israel dynamic ultimately threatens any other regional normalisation
Crisis in the Gulf will also have major consequences for India
The US is in a dilemma over the funding of the Diamer-Bhasha dam in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. While China and Saudi Arabia have made big inroads in public perception by taking up developmental projects, the US, despite lots of assistance, is perceived not to be doing enough in this area.
Despite the sanctions, Iran has continued to act as a regional power with huge influence over the internal affairs of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain and Yemen. That's what threatens Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf kingdoms, and America's rapproachment with Iran is the beginning of a tectonic shift in the regional balance of power.
In Saudi Arabia, the Biden administration is trying to walk a fine line between a robust interpretation of US interests and a softer definition of US values. For all his flaws, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has embarked on an ambitious and perilous mission to ‘normalise’ Saudi Arabia. The process isn’t democratic and there are times when reform & repression travel side by side.
India has significant interests in the Persian Gulf region, but it appears to have dealt itself out of the game by tamely skewing its Middle East policy in favour of the informal US-Saudi Arabia-Israel coalition. Iran was given short shrift as New Delhi went along with Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ policy on Iran. New Delhi’s motives may have been practical.
By exiting the Iran nuclear deal and guiding the Abraham Accords to fruition, did Trump’s disruptions succeed in American foreign policy’s most ho
Asian states, particularly Asian economies importing oil as primary customers today, will see a demand for a significant increase in their military fo
As the Indo-Pacific continues to emerge at the centre of international security discourse, it will be vital for the Philippines to maximise this oppor
Narendra Modi’s West Asia policy remains the one area of achievement in an otherwise indifferent record of foreign policy.
India has nurtured good relations with Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE & Bahrain, and will gain from peace in West Asia.
He means well, it seems, but how is he going to deliver on the deluge of changes he says are imminent for his kingdom to usher into the 21st century?
