Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Saudi Arabia on Sunday is part of a broader diplomatic offensive to put pressure on arch rival Pakistan by forging ties with some of Islamabads closest allies, Indian ruling party and government officials said.
Modi is expected to sign trade agreements, including contracts to secure investment for infrastructure projects, and offer security and military cooperation, such as training and joint exercises, they said.
The visit comes just months after he travelled to another Pakistan ally, the United Arab Emirates, and signed a security cooperation agreement that includes regular meetings between top security advisers.
Its simple. We have to do everything to deal with Pakistan use economics, strategy and emotional ties to win the hearts of Islamabads friends, said Ram Madhav, national general secretary of Modis ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence in 1947, two of them over Kashmir. New Delhi has long accused Islamabad of sponsoring a separatist movement and militancy in the Himalayan region. Pakistan denies the charge and accuses India of occupying Kashmir and fomenting trouble in its restive provinces, like Balochistan.
Stronger relationships with Pakistans allies like Saudi Arabia and the UAE can help India get a more sympathetic hearing on global and regional forums and put pressure on Islamabad to rein in militants.
On Thursday, Saudi Arabia and the United States imposed joint sanctions targeting the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group blamed for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai.
New Delhi has been frustrated that often its ties with countries have been coloured by concerns about its relationship with Pakistan. One foreign ministry official said the Saudis tended to bring up Pakistan during discussions with India.
Government officials described Modis diplomatic push as an effort to de-hyphenate India from Pakistan, especially as New Delhi tries to play a bigger geopolitical role in Asia to counter Chinas influence.
Right timing
Until now, Indias relationship with Saudi Arabia has been driven primarily by trade and the Indian diaspora in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is Indias top energy supplier and home to more than 3.5 million Indian expatriates.
Over the past few years, there has been some cooperation on security between the two countries, with Riyadh deporting four most wanted fugitives to India.
Modi will look to broaden those ties, with one foreign ministry official saying healthcare, education, religious tourism and labour reforms would also be key talking points.
Still, there are limits to what New Delhi can hope to achieve. The relationship between Pakistan and the Saudis goes back decades, based in their shared Sunni Muslim heritage.
Saudi Arabia has long been a source of financial aid for Islamabad. In 2014, the Saudis gave Pakistan $1.5 billion as a gift to shore up its foreign reserves.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif spent time in political exile in Saudi Arabia in the 2000s, after he was ousted in a military coup.
But Indian officials said the timing was right for Modis visit, as relations between Riyadh and Islamabad enter a rough patch.
Pakistan declined to provide ships, aircraft and troops to the Saudi-led fight to halt Iranian-allied Houthi rebels in Yemen last year. It has also sought to avoid taking sides in the escalating dispute between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Pakistan knows that relations with Saudi have come to a low. That doesnt mean that India can fill that gap, said Zahid Hussain, a former newspaper editor in Pakistan. But certainly this is part of Modis diplomatic offensive in the region.
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