Saudi Arabia and India agree to expand military ties after landmark visit
Lieutenant General Fahd Bin Abdullah Mohammed al-Mutair's visit to India underscores burgeoning ties between India and Saudi Arabia
Commander of Royal Saudi Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia Fahd Bin Abdullah Mohammed Al-Mutair (R) inspects the guard of honor prior to a meeting with India Army Chief General MM Naravane (not pictured) in New Delhi on 15 February, 2022. (AFP)
By MEE staff
Published date: 15 February 2022
Saudi Arabia and India will expand their defence ties after a landmark meeting between Lieutenant General Fahd Bin Abdullah Mohammed al-Mutair and Indian army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane, Indian media reported on Tuesday.
Mutair's three-day visit to Delhi, the first by a serving Royal Saudi Land Forces commander, underscored "a deepening bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries", the Indian defence ministry said.
Al-Mutair met the Indian chief of the Army Staff "for significant bilateral discussions and was briefed on security aspects," the statement said.
Mutair's visit comes 14 months after Naravane travelled to Saudi Arabia in what was then the first visit by an Indian army chief to the kingdom.
The Print, an Indian digital publication, wrote that the move "appears to represent the next step in the recent shift in relations between India and Saudi Arabia, a nation that historically had close ties with Pakistan".
"Rifts between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan were previously reported in August 2020, over the Gulf state’s position on the scrapping of Article 370 in the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir," The Print said.
Article 370 of the Indian constitution gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, a state formerly administered by India.
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Mutair's visit also comes roughly a week after Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif, Saudi Arabia's interior minister, travelled to Pakistan for what experts say was an attempt to win over Pakistan's military and diplomatic support in its fight against Houthi rebels in Yemen, where Riyadh is leading a military coalition in support of the government against the rebels.
On Tuesday, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), based in Saudi Arabia, expressed deep concern for the plight of Muslims in India, following calls for genocide by Hindu right-wing leaders in January and the ongoing ban on headscarves in schools in the southern state of Karnataka. The OIC said the ongoing incidents of violence against Muslims indicated rising Islamophobia in India.
In the first three quarters of 2021, India became Saudi Arabia's second-largest trading partner.
According to the Indian government, ties with the kingdom are predicated on a string of common interests, including ending terrorism, economic development and tackling climate change.
"Defence diplomacy forms one of the major tenets of the overall relationship," the department of defence said.
News of a Riyadh-Beijing missile project is a reminder that despite their fledgling alliance, China’s loyalty to Iran has its limits
Iranian Defence Minister Hossein Dehqan saluting with Chinese counterpart Chang Wanquan during a welcome ceremony in Tehran for the latter on 14 November 2016 (AFP)
By MEE correspondent
Published date: 12 February 2022
The recent news that Saudi Arabia is building ballistic missiles with help from China reopened a decades-old foreign policy debate among Iran’s political class.
On one side stand the reformists, who push for Iran to maintain ties with both western and eastern powers.
On the other, the hardline authorities, who in recent years have grown distrustful of the West and bet on alliances with China and Russia.
Tehran was included in China’s Belt and Road initiative last year, a 25-year agreement paving the way for Chinese investment in Iran, and authorities are working on a similar agreement with Russia.
But when CNN revealed in December that US intelligence officials had been briefed on large transfers of missile technology from Beijing to Riyadh, it was hard not to see the news as a setback for the hardline camp.
Satellite images indicate the Saudis are manufacturing ballistic missiles at a test site near Dawadmi, Saudi Arabia, with the help of China, according to experts. Planet Labs PBC/AFP)
The country’s arch-rival teaming up with one of its closest eastern allies was all over Iranian media.
Critics pointed out the “paradox” of calling China “Iran’s strategic partner” while it was helping Saudi Arabia develop ballistic missiles. The hardliners sought to downplay the news.
"China has relations with both countries without interfering in the relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and we respect its preferences,” Mahmoud Abbaszadeh Meshkini, spokesman for the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said.
“We are not worried about the relationship between Beijing and Riyadh.”
But having prioritised ties with China and Russia, a reformist journalist who asked to remain anonymous fearing repercussions from authorities told MEE, “[the government] probably know that they are being discredited among the people.”
The country’s arch-rival teaming up with one of its closest eastern allies was all over Iranian media.
Critics pointed out the “paradox” of calling China “Iran’s strategic partner” while it was helping Saudi Arabia develop ballistic missiles. The hardliners sought to downplay the news.
"China has relations with both countries without interfering in the relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and we respect its preferences,” Mahmoud Abbaszadeh Meshkini, spokesman for the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said.
“We are not worried about the relationship between Beijing and Riyadh.”
But having prioritised ties with China and Russia, a reformist journalist who asked to remain anonymous fearing repercussions from authorities told MEE, “[the government] probably know that they are being discredited among the people.”
‘Look East’
The two camps have long clashed over how Tehran chooses its allies.
One of the key slogans of the 1979 Islamic Revolution was "neither East nor West".
But hardliners including current president Ebrahim Raisi have abandoned that strategy, arguing that the West has proven untrustworthy and that Iran should focus on building alliances with China and Russia.
After the US withdrawal in 2018 from the historic nuclear deal between Iran, western powers, China and Russia, limiting Iran’s nuclear proliferation in return for the removal of sanctions, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran "should look east, not west”.
“Pinning our hope on the West or Europe would belittle us as we would beg them for favours and they would do nothing," he added.
Reformists, such as ex-president Hassan Rouhani, fear however that Iran will become a pawn in a modern-day cold war if it chooses sides and, instead, push to repair ties with the US and the West while nourishing relationships in the East.
It was Rouhani and his foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, who steered Iran into the 2015 nuclear deal and a year later began the negotiations with Beijing that resulted in the 2021 agreement.
Zarif has argued that Iran can’t have one without the other, as US sanctions hinder proper implementation of the China deal.
The Raisi government returned this week to the fraught, indirect talks with the US in Vienna about the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal. But negotiators have insisted they feel under no pressure to strike a deal, telling MEE in December the ball is “in America’s court”.
Meanwhile, authorities have emphasised they are channelling efforts into strengthening ties with the East.
But the news of the Riyadh-Beijing missile collaboration was a reminder that despite their fledgling alliance, China’s loyalty to Iran has its limits.
Should Iran worry?
The boost to Saudi Arabia's military will likely “raise the level of competition between Tehran and Riyadh”, an Iran-based foreign policy journalist told MEE.
Riyadh has faced restrictions on weapons sales from its traditional US ally since the arrival of President Joe Biden in the White House, and appears to be turning to Beijing as an alternative partner on missile defence.
Analysts diverge on how this will change the Beijing-Tehran alliance.
“I do not see this cooperation seriously damaging China-Iran relations,” Samuel Ramani, an associate fellow at London-based Rusi think tank, told MEE. “Tehran is cognisant of China's policy of balancing ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and favouring a de-escalation of tensions between them.”
“Cooperation between Saudi Arabia and China in the missile sphere began in 1987 and has intermittently continued in the years that followed,” he added.
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Saudi Arabia is clearly concerned by the growing threat of Houthi missile strikes on its territory, he said, “and the timing of the latest announcements are aimed at creating a deterrent”.
“The big question is whether China responds by aiding Iran's ballistic missile programme,” said Ramani, “but it seems as if Beijing is more inclined to support Iran's right to modernise its military and pursue self-defence capabilities, while refraining from transformative military assistance.”
A former Iranian diplomat, speaking anonymously fearing attention from the authorities, is more concerned.
“This move not only helps Saudi Arabia redress the imbalance with Iran, which has so far had the upper hand in missile power, but also damages Iran's deterrence in this region,” he told MEE.
“It also undermines the traditional belief that Iran is… the only potential and reliable strategic partner for China in the Middle East.”
Why Pakistan might be about to side with Saudi Arabia against Iran
Pakistan has traditionally remained neutral in the conflict between the Gulf kingdom and Iran. That might be about to change
Security officials and relatives attend a funeral ceremony of a slain policeman, who was killed in an attack in the border town of Chaman, Balochistan, on 28 January 2022 (AFP/Abdul Basit)
Saudi Arabia is clearly concerned by the growing threat of Houthi missile strikes on its territory, he said, “and the timing of the latest announcements are aimed at creating a deterrent”.
“The big question is whether China responds by aiding Iran's ballistic missile programme,” said Ramani, “but it seems as if Beijing is more inclined to support Iran's right to modernise its military and pursue self-defence capabilities, while refraining from transformative military assistance.”
A former Iranian diplomat, speaking anonymously fearing attention from the authorities, is more concerned.
“This move not only helps Saudi Arabia redress the imbalance with Iran, which has so far had the upper hand in missile power, but also damages Iran's deterrence in this region,” he told MEE.
“It also undermines the traditional belief that Iran is… the only potential and reliable strategic partner for China in the Middle East.”
Why Pakistan might be about to side with Saudi Arabia against Iran
Pakistan has traditionally remained neutral in the conflict between the Gulf kingdom and Iran. That might be about to change
Security officials and relatives attend a funeral ceremony of a slain policeman, who was killed in an attack in the border town of Chaman, Balochistan, on 28 January 2022 (AFP/Abdul Basit)
By Sal Ahmed
Published date: 7 February 2022
Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif arrived in Pakistan on his day-long visit on Monday looking to secure an ally.
Saudi Arabia, which has now been embroiled in its war in Yemen since 2014, is searching for military and diplomatic support in its fight against the Iran-aligned Houthis, particularly after the US pulled its Patriot missile systems from the country last year.
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Pakistan, too, needs a friend in the region.
A recent attack by Iran-based Baloch separatists on a major Pakistani military base ended with many dead and wounded.
The Pakistani establishment is currently discussing how to respond to what it sees as Iran's efforts to destabilise the region by allowing the separatists to operate from within its borders.
It has traditionally remained neutral in the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, but analysts say that may be about to change.
Middle East Eye asked experts what Saudi Arabia and Pakistan want - and need - from each other.
Pakistan, too, needs a friend in the region.
A recent attack by Iran-based Baloch separatists on a major Pakistani military base ended with many dead and wounded.
The Pakistani establishment is currently discussing how to respond to what it sees as Iran's efforts to destabilise the region by allowing the separatists to operate from within its borders.
It has traditionally remained neutral in the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, but analysts say that may be about to change.
Middle East Eye asked experts what Saudi Arabia and Pakistan want - and need - from each other.
Firepower against the Houthis
Prince Abdulaziz is in Islamabad to test the waters and try to persuade Pakistan to take a harder stance against Iran, says Umer Karim, a visiting fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a British think tank.
The Saudis want help fighting the Houthis in Yemen, he told MEE. “Ideally, they want intelligence sharing and a Pakistani military brigade in Saudi Arabia, in a defensive role.”
'I am very sure that Pakistan will not send its forces to Saudi Arabia, but the country's establishment will be looking to diplomatically confront Iran'- Kamal Alam, the Atlantic Council
Muhammad Athar Javed, director general of Pakistan House, a think tank based in Islamabad, says Saudi Arabia's security situation looks bleak, with air defence capabilities running dangerously low since the US withdrew support.
In 2021, the Houthis conducted 375 cross border attacks on Saudi Arabia, including missile and drone attacks, according to US Special Envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking.
“They definitely want to stop Houthi missiles flying into Saudi airspace, because now Houthi targets are becoming more and more strategic, with oil refineries and oil fields, airports and shipping ports.
“Boots on the ground in Yemen would play directly into the hands of Houthis and their Iranian backers, and that's not what the Saudis want,” he added.
Halting recruitment
Another major point on Abdulaziz’s agenda is intelligence sharing.
The Saudis fear Iran will bolster Houthi numbers with mercenaries returning from the war in Syria, says Karim of RUSI, and feel Pakistan may be able to help.
“The Zeinabiyoun militia brigade is mainly made up of Shia Pakistanis recruited by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard,” he told MEE. “They have been fighting for a while alongside government forces in Syria, but many of them have now returned,” says Karim.
He explains that Esmail Qaani of the IRGC is of major concern to the Saudis and Pakistanis. Qaani currently heads the Quds force, Iran's elite unit tasked with overseas operations, and is an expert in Afghan and Pakistani affairs.
Saudi Arabia fears Qaani could intensify recruitment of young Shia men in Afghanistan and Pakistan, pair them up with former battle-hardened Zeinabiyoun fighters and redirect them to Yemen, says Karim.
“The Saudis want Pakistan to stop any such recruitment processes in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Previously when the Pakistani intelligence agencies noticed IRGC recruiting Pakistani Shia men for the brigade, they allowed it to happen, but now the Saudis would want the Pakistanis to stop that.”
Pakistan is likely to share such intelligence now, he adds.
“This serves a joint purpose, Pakistani intelligence has been keeping a close eye on returning mercenaries from Syria and if there might be any further efforts by Iranians to recruit more Shia men.”
Kamal Alam, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, says the Saudis also want more in the way of diplomatic support to pressure the Iranians to stop funding and arming the Houthis.
“Pakistan's civilian government has good links with Iran and is likely to be pressed by the Saudis to use their clout to reduce the current tensions.”
The Baloch question
Scarred by its own history of sectarian violence, Pakistan has previously been reluctant to play an active combat role against the Houthis in Yemen.
As the Balochistan insurgency drags on, however, that stance may be shifting.
In 2018, Pakistan sent a brigade of air defence experts, special forces and anti-mining operators to Saudi Arabia.
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Separatists have waged an insurgency in Pakistan’s vast southwestern province of Balochistan for years, fuelled by anger that its abundant reserves of natural resources are not relieving citizens from crushing poverty.
“Pakistan has its own issues with Iran these days,” says Alam. “Pakistan accuses Iran of harbouring Baloch separatist militants on its soil, from where they have been launching attacks against the Pakistani state.”
Pakistan has been losing on average five soldiers a day recently, says Alam, angering Pakistan's strategic community.
“I am very sure that Pakistan will not send its forces to Saudi Arabia, but the country's establishment will be looking to diplomatically confront Iran,” he told MEE.
What next?
What’s to come largely depends on how the situation develops in Balochistan, says Alam.
Pakistani soldiers have in the past conducted border security operations in Saudi Arabia, says Javed of Pakistan House, but not crossed into Yemen.
Instead of risking open conflict with Iran-backed militias, he told MEE, “I think Pakistan will limit itself to strategy, consulting and training roles.”
The country is in a bind, analysts agree. It has to appease the Saudis but keep enough distance from the Saudi-led war in Yemen, while keeping a lid on tensions with Iran.
“Saudi Arabia's reputation is at stake,” says Javed, “that's why the desperation to approach Pakistan.”
Separatists have waged an insurgency in Pakistan’s vast southwestern province of Balochistan for years, fuelled by anger that its abundant reserves of natural resources are not relieving citizens from crushing poverty.
“Pakistan has its own issues with Iran these days,” says Alam. “Pakistan accuses Iran of harbouring Baloch separatist militants on its soil, from where they have been launching attacks against the Pakistani state.”
Pakistan has been losing on average five soldiers a day recently, says Alam, angering Pakistan's strategic community.
“I am very sure that Pakistan will not send its forces to Saudi Arabia, but the country's establishment will be looking to diplomatically confront Iran,” he told MEE.
What next?
What’s to come largely depends on how the situation develops in Balochistan, says Alam.
Pakistani soldiers have in the past conducted border security operations in Saudi Arabia, says Javed of Pakistan House, but not crossed into Yemen.
Instead of risking open conflict with Iran-backed militias, he told MEE, “I think Pakistan will limit itself to strategy, consulting and training roles.”
The country is in a bind, analysts agree. It has to appease the Saudis but keep enough distance from the Saudi-led war in Yemen, while keeping a lid on tensions with Iran.
“Saudi Arabia's reputation is at stake,” says Javed, “that's why the desperation to approach Pakistan.”
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