In a major bonhomie development between two major US allies in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have decided to set up a joint fund worth more than $ 10 billion to develop a megacity and business zone planned to be built by Riyadh on more than 1,000 square kms of land in the southern Sinai Peninsula, committed by Cairo.
Reuters quoted unnamed Saudi official saying that Egypt has committed land to a planned mega-city and business zone unveiled by Saudi Arabia last October. The territory along the Red Sea is part of a joint fund worth more than $10 billion and announced by the two countries late on Sunday during a visit to Cairo by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS.
Saudi Crown Prince arrived in Cairo on Sunday evening for a three-day visit and held meeting with President Abdel Fettah el-Sisi. He will travel to London and Washington after Cairo. This is his maiden foreign trip taking him to one of its closest allies in the region
Egypt, UAE and Bahrain had followed Riyadh’s suggestion for severing ties with Qatar in June last year.
Prince Mohammed previously announced plans for the 26,500 square km zone, known as NEOM, with its own judicial system and legislation designed to attract international investors, at an international investment conference in Riyadh. The mega-city is supposed to focus on industries such as energy and water, biotechnology, food, advanced manufacturing and tourism.
The location of NEOM, close to Israeli territory and also Egyptian city of Sharm al-Sheikh, known for its beaches popular among western tourists coupled with ongoing cultural transformation under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman indicates the future scenario. The NEOM was originally conceived to develop across Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan.
Saudi Arabia plans to build seven cities and tourism projects, while Egypt will focus on developing the existing resort cities of Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada, the Saudi official said. The public and private investment in the area was eventually expected to $500 billion mark.
Saudi Arabia is known for its conventional and extremist Wahabi ideology. In recent months thousands of Wahabi preachers were reportedly detained. Videos of religious preachers’ detention even during their speeches in mosques were in public domain.
The Saudi official has also disclosed that the kingdom will also work with Egypt and Jordan to attract European cruise companies to operate in the Red Sea during the winter season. Riyadh is negotiating with seven important cruise companies.
Saudi Arabia will also set up 50 resorts and four small cities as part of a separate tourism initiative announced last August and backed by the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
The Red Sea Project, made up of some 50 islands, will offer a nature reserve, diving on coral reefs and heritage sites. Construction will commence in 2019 and is scheduled to complete its first phase by late 2022.
In a significant development, India and China have completed the disengagement exercise in the Depsang and Demchok friction points at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. The troops of both the countries are now verifying the vacation of positions and removal of infrastructure.
Reportedly, the Indian Army said that coordinated patrolling will start soon by both sides, and the ground commanders will continue to hold talks. The two sides will exchange sweets for Diwali tomorrow.
Earlier, Foreign secretary Vikram Misri announced that New Delhi and Beijing reached an agreement to disengage in the remaining friction points at LAC in eastern Ladakh. After the agreement, the two countries began troops disengagement at the two friction points at Demchok and Depsang plains on October 23.
India-China relations worsened because of the Chinese troops’ aggression along the Line of Actual Control, the de facto border, in April 2020. It further deteriorated on June 15, 2020, after 20 Indian soldiers died in the line of duty thwarting the Chinese offensive in the Galwan Valley. New Delhi had said India’s bilateral relations with China will normalise only after the situation at the LAC returns to what it was before May 2020.
Reports said that the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have pulled back their forward-deployed troops and equipment from the two flashpoints, and have also dismantled temporary structures that had been built during the four-year-long standoff.
The Indian soldiers will resume their patrolling in areas that had been cut off because of the PLA’s presence. Nonetheless, the disengagement in Depsang and Demchok will not lead to the creation of buffer zones.
Both the countries had disengaged from Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso, Gogra (PP-17A) and Hot Springs (PP-15) areas and created buffer zones. Speaking to a newspaper publication, Lieutenant General Vinod Bhatia (retd), a former director general of military operations said that the disengagement at Depsang and Demchok will facilitate patrolling by both sides in a coordinated manner, and in the agreed upon frequency and strength of the patrolling parties.
The Iranian Army said on Saturday that two of its soldiers were killed in Israeli air strikes that targeted military bases.
Iran stated that its air defenses effectively countered the attack, resulting in the unfortunate deaths of two soldiers and some areas suffering limited damage.
The Israeli military conducted strikes on Iranian military sites after 2 am on Saturday, responding to what they cited as ongoing attacks by Iran and its allies in the region.
Following the strikes, the Israeli military announced they had successfully completed the mission and achieved their objectives.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the precise targeting of military sites in Iran to neutralize immediate threats to Israel.
“I can now confirm that we have concluded the Israeli response to Iran’s attacks against Israel. We conducted targeted and precise strikes on military targets in Iran — thwarting immediate threats to the State of Israel,” the Israel Defence Force posted on X.
Iran’s air defense headquarters acknowledged the hits on bases in Ilam, Khuzestan, and Tehran but asserted that these attacks were effectively repelled, with investigations ongoing to assess damages. Moreover, Iran indicated its readiness to retaliate against any Israeli aggression, stating that Israel would face proportional consequences for its actions.
Iran expressed its intentions to respond to the Israeli attacks on its military bases, condemning the actions as a violation of international law and the UN Charter’s principles on the use of force.
Emphasising Iran’s right to self-defense under the UN Charter, the Iranian Foreign Ministry highlighted its obligation to counter foreign aggression.
Pakistan strongly condemned Israel’s strikes on Iran, attributing the escalation to Israel and urging the UN Security Council to intervene for peace and security.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer emphasised that Iran should refrain from retaliating against Israel, advocating for restraint on all sides to prevent further escalation.
“I am clear that Israel has the right to defend itself against Iranian aggression. I’m equally clear that we must avoid further regional escalation and urge all sides to restrain. Iran should not respond,” the PM said at a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
The United States advised Iran to halt its attacks on Israel to cease the ongoing violence and break the cycle of conflict, underlining the importance of de-escalation.
“We urge Iran to cease its attacks on Israel so that this cycle of fighting can end without further escalation,” U.S. National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett told reporters.
President Joe Biden was briefed on the Israeli operation throughout its development and execution by his National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan.
BRICS Summit: PM Modi, China’s Xi Jinping discuss Ukraine war with Russia’s Putin
“The world has entered a new period of turbulent change. We need to build a peaceful BRICS, and be the guardian of common security,” said Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Summit.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, China’s Xi Jinping, and other BRICS leaders on Wednesday discussed the war in Ukraine with President Vladimir Putin as the Kremlin chief chaired a major summit aimed at showing Western attempts to isolate Russia have failed.
India supports dialogue and diplomacy and not war, PM Modi said at the BRICS Summit, in an unambiguous message calling for resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict through peaceful negotiations.
Putin, whose administration has dismissed allegations of war crimes against him as politically motivated, kicked off the Summit on Wednesday by noting the strong interest from over 30 States in joining the BRICS group.
He emphasised the importance of maintaining a balance in any expansion, acknowledging the unprecedented interest from countries in the Global South and East while ensuring that it does not diminish the effectiveness of BRICS.
“The world has entered a new period of turbulent change. We need to build a peaceful BRICS, and be the guardian of common security,” said Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Summit.
On the Ukraine crisis, Jinping said, “We need to push for the situation to de-escalate as soon as possible.” He also expressed his concern over the crisis in Gaza, saying, “We need to push for a ceasefire.”
PM Modi emphasised the need for a people-centric approach to solving global challenges and called for reformed multilateralism. The PM underlined the importance of dialogue and diplomacy for global peace and stability.
Addressing the summit in Kazan, a Russian city along the Volga, Europe’s longest river, Putin also reiterated the group’s focus on discussing acute regional conflicts, alluding to the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Russia, heavily reliant on oil exports, sees China and India as major buyers, with the two countries responsible for about 90% of Moscow’s oil sales, making it Russia’s largest foreign currency source.
In a public exchange, Prime Minister Modi expressed his desire for peace in Ukraine to Putin, while Chinese President Xi discussed the Ukrainian conflict privately with the Russian leader.
As Russia continues its advancement, it currently controls a significant portion of Ukraine, including Crimea, unilaterally annexed in 2014, as well as a substantial portion of the Donbas region, comprising Donetsk and Luhansk, along with parts of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
Putin has reiterated that Moscow will not negotiate the status of these regions, claiming them as part of Russia and emphasising the need to consider Russia’s long-term security interests in Europe.
The anticipated BRICS communique is expected to include proposals from China and Brazil aimed at resolving the conflict in Ukraine, with the two countries seeking support for a ceasefire from other developing nations. Ukraine has accused Beijing and Brasília of aligning with Moscow’s interests.
Putin has acknowledged the potential of the Chinese-Brazilian proposals as a basis for ending the conflict, following Russia’s deployment of troops into Ukraine in 2022 after years of fighting in the eastern part of the country.
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