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Washington: India’s National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit K Doval met his American counterpart Jake Sullivan in Saudi Arabia on Sunday. The White House has said that US National Security Advisor (NSA) Jake Sullivan held a meeting with his Indian counterpart Ajit K Doval in Saudi Arabia on Sunday. He said the two leaders would meet again on the sidelines of the Quad summit in Australia later this month. This is the first meeting between Doval and Sullivan after launching the ambitious ‘India US ICET (Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies)’ dialogue here in January. Sullivan is currently on a trip to Saudi Arabia.
Giving details of the meeting, the White House said on Sunday that National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will meet the Prime Minister and Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia on May 7 in Saudi Arabia to promote a shared vision of a prosperous and more secure West Asia connected with India and the world. Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, National Security Advisor of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor of India. The White House said Sullivan also held bilateral meetings with the Crown Prince, Sheikh Tahnoon and Doval to discuss bilateral and regional matters. He looked forward to further discussions with Doval on the sidelines of the Quad summit in Australia later this month.
The White House said Sullivan thanked the crown prince for Saudi Arabia’s cooperation in evacuating American citizens from Sudan. The four representatives agreed to hold regular consultations and take further action on the issues discussed during the day. The official Saudi Press Agency confirmed the meeting between Jake Sullivan and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah. The official news agency reported only that the two leaders reviewed strategic ties at the meeting, which was attended by other US officials.
US President Joe Biden pledged to isolate Saudi Arabia in his election campaign following the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. US intelligence agencies believe that the assassination took place on the orders of the Crown Prince, but Saudi Arabia denies this. However, Biden traveled to Saudi Arabia in July last year to seek the country’s assistance on energy needs in the wake of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
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