National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on Tuesday visited Saudi Arabia for a previously unannounced visit amid key developments related to the Gaza peace plan.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval (HT file photo/Sanjeev Verma)Doval arrived in Riyadh five days after Deputy National Security Advisor Pawan Kapoor’s visit to Iran. The only official word on Doval’s visit was a social media post from the Indian Embassy in Riyadh, which said that the NSA was greeted at the airport by Indian Ambassador Suhail Khan and Saudi Deputy Minister Saud Al-Sati, the former ambassador to New Delhi.
The NSA is the most senior Indian official to visit Saudi Arabia since Saudi Arabia signed a mutual defense pact with Pakistan last September. The visit will be an opportunity for the Saudi side to apprise India of recent developments in the context of the agreement with Pakistan and the Gaza peace plan, people familiar with the matter said.
The visit came more than a fortnight after United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed visited India, during which the two sides unveiled plans to finalize a strategic defense partnership and set a target of doubling bilateral trade to $200 billion.
On January 28, Saudi Arabia condemned the Pahalgam terror attack and the Red Fort terror incident in a meeting of the Bilateral Security Working Group. Both sides reviewed ongoing security cooperation and discussed the threat posed by terrorist groups globally and in their regions.
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Saudi Arabia attended the Indo-Arab foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi over the weekend that supported a two-state solution to the Palestinian issue.
