DPG West Asia Review

DPG West Asia Review

Date: August 03, 2020

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is diversifying its economy away from oil, by adopting more sustainable forms of energy sources. In light of this, UAE started operations at the Arab world’s first nuclear power plant at Barakah. In another major development on the energy front, Saudi Arabia posted deficit of USD29 billion in the second quarter of this year on account of low oil prices and the Covid-19 induced economic contraction. This has resulted in ‘Apple’ overtaking Saudi Arabia’s national oil company ‘Aramco’ as the world’s most valuable company. Apple is valued at USD1.817 trillion, while Saudi Aramco’s market value stands at USD1.76 trillion. In another development, the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is in advanced talks with British Petroleum (BP) for USD1.5 billion stake in Oman’s Khazzan natural gas field.

On the regional security front, Iran tested an underground ballistic missile against a dummy US aircraft carrier with good results. Furthermore, Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei rejected further negotiations with the US over Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programme. In another development, an Iranian foreign ministry official clarified that Iran – China strategic cooperation is not an alliance between the two countries. The U.S. economic sanctions are taking toll on the Iranian economy; Iran has run out US Dollar reserves. This could impact Islamic Republics imports including India’s Basmati rice.
    
India-Saudi Arabia relations have strengthened significantly in the past few years. Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to India acknowledged that, “India is one of the most important strategic partners of Saudi Arabia and both countries are forging strong relations on Defence and Security fronts.”

Turkish President Erdogan has placed a greater emphasis on the pursuit of an Islamist identity. Reportedly, a number of radical Islamic organizations in India are being funded by the Turkish government. Turkey also reassured Pakistan of its support for Kashmir in a phone call between President Erdogan and Pak PM Imran Khan. Turkey’s decision to convert Hagia Sophia museum to a mosque received criticism from the Russian Orthodox Church. In light of this, Russia has decided to help Syria build a replica Hagia Sophia that will operate as an Orthodox cathedral.
   
Links to major developments in West Asia of strategic relevance to India, compiled from open source media, can be found below.