Saudi Arabia joins India to send message to Pakistan: Stop using terror against other nations

Saudi Arabia on Monday joined India in subtly sending out a message to Pakistan by calling on all nations to reject the use of terrorism against other nations.

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (aka MBS) met in New Delhi, they took note of the bilateral security cooperation between India and the West Asian kingdom.

They expressed willingness “to open new horizons to enhance this cooperation to achieve security and stability for the two friendly countries”, according to a joint statement issued after the two leaders had the meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.

The meeting between Modi and MBS ended with both sides calling on all countries “to reject the use of terrorism against other countries, dismantle terrorism infrastructure where it exists and bring perpetrators of terrorism to justice swiftly”.

The joint statement apparently reflected Saudi Arabia’s support for India’s view on the export of terrorism from Pakistan, albeit without directly referring to any specific source for the menace.

MBS, who was in New Delhi for the G20 summit, stayed back for a day for a state visit to India. Apart from his meeting with the prime minister, the Saudi Arabian crown prince also called on President Draupadi Murmu on Monday.

Islamabad was expecting that MBS would have a stopover in Pakistan, either while travelling to India or while returning to Saudi Arabia. Riyadh, however, postponed the visit of the Crown Prince to Islamabad, apparently to avoid clubbing his visits to two South Asian nations and thus hurting the sensitivities of New Delhi. Pakistan, which is going through an economic crisis, has been hoping for some big-ticket investment announcements by Saudi Arabia.

Modi and MBS on Monday also stressed the need to prevent access to weapons including missiles and drones to commit terrorist acts against other countries.

“The two sides also stressed the importance of strengthening security cooperation in the field of combating terrorism and its financing. Both sides emphasized that terrorism, in all its forms, remains one of the gravest threats to humanity,” according to the joint statement issued after the meeting between the two leaders. “They agreed that there cannot be any justification for any act of terror for any reason whatsoever. They rejected any attempt to link terrorism to any particular race, religion or culture.”