Topic Of The Day:- “Well Oiled — On Saudi Crown Prince’s India Visit’’
It Is Easy To See Why The Saudi Crown Prince Has Chosen To Include India In His Asia Tour
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visits India next week at a time when both countries are seeking to deepen bilateral cooperation. For MBS, as he is widely known, the visit to India, Pakistan, China, Malaysia and Indonesia is an opportunity to re-assert Saudi Arabia’s role as a major foreign policy player in Asia amid growing criticism over the Yemen war and the brutalassassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. For the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the visit, with general elections approaching, is an opportunity to cap its pursuitof stronger ties with West Asian nations on a high note. High-level visits between India and Saudi Arabia have become the new normal since King Abdullah came to India in 2006, the first Saudi monarch to do so in five decades. Four years later, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh travelled to Riyadh. Mr. Modi visited Riyadh in 2016; last year, he met MBS in Argentina on the sidelines of the G-20 summit at a time when the Crown Prince had already come under sharp criticism in many Western countries. A number of factors have influenced the turnaround in ties between the two countries, which had been underwhelming during the Cold War. When India’s economy started growing at a faster clip post-liberalisation, its dependence on energy-rich nations grew. And Saudi Arabia was a stable, trusted supplier of oil. Post-9/11, the two have expanded the scope of their partnership to economic issues and fighting terrorism.
MBS is expected to announce Saudi investments in both India and Pakistan. Saudi Arabia, which has traditionally exercised great influence over Pakistan, had recently offered a $6 billion loan to Islamabad to stabilise the economy. In India, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have acquired a 50% stake in a refinery complex in Maharashtra. The project remains stalled amid protests against landacquisition, but it shows Saudi Arabia’s interest to make long-term investments in India’s energy sector. Another subject that that will come up in bilateral talks is Iran. MBS has madecontainment of Iran his top foreign policy priority, and has U.S. support in this pursuit. India is certain to come under U.S. pressure to cut oil imports from Iran: it has so far walked thetightrope between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Even as its ties with the Kingdom improved over the past decade, India deepened its engagement with Iran, be it on oil trade or the Chabahar port. This is driven by the conviction that while Saudi Arabia is vital for India’s energy security, Iran is a gateway to Central Asia. New Delhi is sure to continue this balancing act even as it seeks to strengthen the Saudi pillar of India’s West Asia policy.
MEANINGS AND WORDS
1) assert
Meaning : state a fact or belief confidently and forcefully(v).
Synonyms : allege
Antonyms : conceal
Example : “the company asserts that the cuts will not affect development”
2) criticism
Meaning : the expression of disapproval of someone or something on the basis of perceived faults or mistakes(n).
Synonyms : judgment
Antonyms : neglect
Example : “he received a lot of criticism”
3) brutal
Meaning : direct and without attempting to disguise unpleasantness.
Synonyms : barbarous
Antonyms : civilized
Example : “the brutal honesty of his observations”
4) pursuit
Meaning : the action of pursuing someone or something(n).
Synonyms : hunt
Antonyms : retreat
Example : “the cat crouched in the grass in pursuit of a bird”
5) underwhelm
Meaning : fail to impress or make a positive impact on (someone); disappoint(v).
Synonyms : dismay
Antonyms : overwhelm
Example : “American voters seem underwhelmed by the choices for president”
6) liberalisation
Meaning : the removal or loosening of restrictions on something, typically an economic or political system(n).
Synonyms : deregulate
Example : “the government’s policy of economic liberalization”
7) refinery
Meaning : an industrial installation where a substance is refined(n).
Synonyms : refiner
Example : “an oil refinery”
8) acquisition
Meaning : an asset or object bought or obtained, typically by a library or museum(n).
Synonyms : procurement
Antonyms : loss
Example : “the legacy will be used for new acquisitions”
9) tightrope
Meaning : a rope or wire stretched tightly high above the ground, on which acrobats perform feats of balancing(n).
Synonyms : halyard
Example : “a tightrope walker”
10) conviction
Meaning : a formal declaration by the verdict of a jury or the decision of a judge in a court of law that someone is guilty of a criminal offence(n).
Synonyms : confidence
Antonyms : distrust
Example : “she had a previous conviction for a similar offence”
11) bilateral
Meaning : having or relating to two sides; affecting both sides(adj).
Synonyms : reciprocal
Antonyms : multilateral
Example : “bilateral hearing is essential for sound location”
12) containment
Meaning : the action of keeping something harmful under control or within limits(n).
Synonyms : constraint
Antonyms : allowance
Example : “the containment of the epidemic”
