DPG West Asia Review
The cruise missiles attack on Saudi Aramco oilfields in 2019 had major geopolitical ramifications for West Asia. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a report to the Security Council informed that missiles and drones used in this attack were of ‘Iranian origin’. Tehran rejected these claims, alleging that the UN report had been drawn up under the U.S. and Saudi influence.
In another development, the U.S. and Iraq reinitiated their strategic dialogue after a decade. In the dialogue the U.S. confirmed its commitment to reduce troops in Iraq in the coming months. The U.S. is also likely to support the struggling Iraqi economy.
China-Iran relations have strengthened significantly during the on-going COVID-19 crisis. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi slammed the U.S. for threatening to re-impose an arms embargo on Iran.
On the economic front, Bahrain MP’s favour extension to the stimulus package provided to stabilize the economy. Meanwhile, the UAE central bank expects the economy to contract by 3.6 per cent this year. The continuing economic impact of COVID-19 on account of falling oil prices is also visible on the economies of Oman, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Kuwait declared it will no longer employ expats in the state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation for the year 2020-21; while Oman is seeking financial aid from the Gulf neighbours to manage the deteriorating economic situation. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s oil exports plunged by about 21.9 per cent in the first quarter of this year.
On June 12, 2020, under Operation Samudra Setu, INS Shardul brought back 233 Indians stranded in Iran. Till date the Indian Navy has brought back a total of 3,107 stranded Indians from Iran, Sri Lanka and Maldives.
The UAE’s ambassador to the United States has warned Israel against annexing parts of the West Bank. He stated that such a move will hamper Israel’s growing relations with the Arab world. Meanwhile in Syria and Lebanon, protests have erupted on account of currency free fall and deteriorating economic conditions. As a sign of mounting internal crisis, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad sacked Prime Minister Imad Khamis.
Links to major developments in West Asia of strategic relevance to India, compiled from open-source media, can be found below.
