he news comes just before next week’s visit to the UAE and Saudi by Indian Chief of Army Staff General M M Naravane, during which he will meet a number of officials, apart from his counterparts.
The report noted that General Naravane is expected to address the Saudi National Defence College, in addition to other meetings with senior officials, in the first ever visit to Saudi Arabia by any Indian Army Chief.
The visit of Gen Naravane to the UAE comes near to the recent conclusion of the visit of external affairs Minister S Jaishankar to the area.
“The Middle East countries, including Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, have expressed interest in the acquisition of the BrahMos Missile. “The talks are still in the early stages and further discussions are on hold due to the global lockdown due to COVID-19,” the report said, citing its sources.
For the Indo-Russian joint venture, the latest multiple tests of the BrahMos missile have also performed well. BrahMos serves as a credible deterrent against hostile vessels, along with Chinese hostility and asserting its own superiority in the region, being the only effective and operational supersonic anti-ship cruise missile in the world, also having land-based and aerial-based versions that have seen significant success and have already been integrated with the Su-30MKI fighter jets of the Indian Air Force.
After the election of Narendra Modi as India’s Prime Minister, who has been to the UAE three times and awarded the highest Emirati distinction, the Sheikh Zayed Medal, India’s relations with the two Gulf countries have been cordial.
In addition to Saudi Arabia, India has recently publicly condemned missile attacks at its Aramco oil facility in Jeddah.
Saudi Arabia also raised its investment to $100 billion last year when the UAE announced an investment of $75 billion in India, and invited Indian companies to explore possible futures.
The Reliance-Aramco deal also reflects the warming ties between the two countries. The UAE has also expressed its interest in the surface-to-air missiles of India’s home-grown Akash.
From some news agency