Saudi Arabia is currently getting flanked from all sides. It has also faced a deadlock at the mouth of the Red Sea, where its East-West pipeline meets to divert oil supplies from the Persian Gulf. Months before, Saudi, Turkey & Pakistan came to Mecca to sign a declaration called the Mecca Declaration, which this columnist highlighted as an alarm for India in an earlier column. However, this pact now lies in pieces, as so far Pakistan has not shown any sign of defending Saudi, as was the terms of the pact, which said that an aggression on either of the signatories would be considered an act of aggression on each other.
This doesn’t seem to be happening. Saudi Arabia has been attacked at major energy centers, & it seems at the airport in Riyadh too. Houthis have warned Pakistan away, & Pakistan has also only shown verbal aggression. This is India’s moment to seize. India is a great friend of Iran, which backs the Houthis in Yemen, & the relation with Iran was also renewed through the BRICS summit a few weeks back. India must engage with Saudi & Iran to resolve this issue of the Houthis, which will also help it secure its energy supplies from the region.
Pakistan took a leading position with the Iran vs Israel war, but now it’s India’s chance to get the role & mediate between Saudi & the Houthis.
Recently, the UK has offered to help the Saudi military by helping with mid-air refuelling. India should not extend any military help. Instead, it should work out a plan to bring Saudi, the Houthis & Iran onto the same page. India should help make peace in the Red Sea region for its own energy security & help allies by shielding them from a possible energy crisis.
Saurav RayChaudhuri is an enterprise sales professional and sports enthusiast based in Kolkata. He writes on sports, Indian society, and development. He can be reached at sauravraychaudhuri@gmail.com
