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Trump meets Saudi Crown Prince MBS, sells weapons

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Trump meets Saudi Crown Prince MBS, sells weapons

Senators oppose American support to Saudi Arabia for Yemen war crimes

In a remarkable development, US President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman have discussed defence deals, security cooperation and investment in US, while a group of senators attempted to force a vote on a bill to curb American support to Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen.

Trump gave a warm welcome at White House to the powerful Crown Prince and credited US defence sales to the Saudis boosting American jobs. Both the leaders praised the strength of US-Saudi ties, which had grown sour during Obama administration because of different perceptions about Iran.

The body language of President Trump was of a successful businessman when he said, “Saudi Arabia is a very wealthy nation, and they’re going to give the United States some of that wealth, hopefully, in the form of jobs, in the form of the purchase of the finest military equipment anywhere in the world.”Trump meets Saudi Crown Prince MBS, sells weapons

Trump held up a printed pictorial chart describing different defence deals. Giving details of the already concluded deals of worth $12.5 billion, Trump pampered MBS saying “This is pea-nut for you”. Prince laughed on the way Trump was describing the defence deals between the two countries.

President Trump further tried to express his personal fondness to the Crown Prince saying, “I thought your father made a very wise decision. And I miss your father – a special man.”  King Salman is scheduled to visit the United States later this year.

While addressing the media persons, Trump said, “[…] the relationship, now, is probably as good as it’s really ever been, and I think will probably only get better. Tremendous investments made in our country. And that means jobs for our workers, jobs for our people,”

Crown Prince, spoke at least ten sentences without break in English language. He reiterated Saudi pledge for $200 billion in investments that would end up at $400 billion when fully implemented. He said a ten year window for implementing the deal was under way. The official translators with the two leaders were looking surprised.

The Crown Prince said, “We are the oldest ally of America from the Middle East with more than 80 years of alliance and big interests – politically, economically, security. The foundation of the relation is really huge and deep.”

He further said, “And, as you know, Mr. President, from day one you’ve reached this office, we’ve planned to tackle $200bn for opportunities in the next four years, but it end up with $400bn for opportunities.”Trump meets Saudi Crown Prince MBS, sells weapons

Meanwhile Washington Post “Today’s World View” column written by Ishan Tharoor, say that at the time of the meeting between the two leaders “a storm was brewing on Capitol Hill. A bipartisan group of senators attempted to force a vote on a bill that would curb American support to Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen, as well as asserting more broad congressional oversight of American’s wars.”

Read More: Now Israel want Saudi Crown Prince MBS to visit Tel Aviv

He further said that after hours of debate, opponents of the legislation narrowly won a vote to table the resolution, effectively killing it for the time being. “Still, it was a sign to the Saudis, who have places all their eggs in the Trump administration’s basket, that not all of Washington is on their side”.

A senior aide to Senator Bernie Sanders, one of the co-sponsors of the bill,  was quoted saying to Today’s WorldView, “The intended message is that Congress is taking its constitutional role much more seriously in matters of war. Allies should understand that U.S. support is not open-ended and that Congress will intervene when there is evidence of rights abuses and war crimes violations.”

In May last year, US President Donald Trump, in his first visit overseas, travelled to Saudi Arabia where Riyadh organised a Muslim states Summit attended by over fifty heads of States. The two countries finalised $110 billion defence deals.

Read More: Coming soon, a new Trump version: A friend of Saudi Arabia

Qatar crisis erupted within days after Trump’s Riyadh visit when Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahran and Egypt severed their ties with Doha, in early June, alleging it was supporting terrorist groups.

Read More: Trump calls Saudi Arabia to resolve Qatar crisis

A Senior analyst associated with Aljazeera Marwan Bishara has said that MBS reception in the Oval Room was a “tragicomedy”.  He said, “On the political level, the American president is trying to sell the crown prince to the American public, when Saudi Arabia’s image is really bad.”

“Certainly the crown prince is coming in to pay up at least in part his commitments to the United States in terms of commercial deals and buying arms,” he added.

During his two and a half week sojourn to US, Saudi Crown Prince MBS will also travel to New York, Boston, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Houston to cultivate investments.

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Amid India-Canada diplomatic tensions, Justin Trudeau shares video of his Diwali celebrations

This comes a day after India expressed its concern over the reports of cancelled Diwali celebrations in Canada.

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Amid the ongoing diplomatic tensions between Canada and India over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday shared a video of his Diwali celebration on social media platform X.

Sharing a 44-second video of his Diwali celebrations on social media, the Canadian Prime Minister wrote, “Happy Diwali! So many special moments shared celebrating with the community this week.”

This comes a day after India expressed its concern over the reports of cancelled Diwali celebrations in Canada.

The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Saturday, while addressing the media over Canada’s serious allegation against Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Nijjar, said it was unfortunate that the prevailing atmosphere in Canada has reached high levels of intolerance and extremism.

In the video, Prime Minister Trudeau showed off some colorful religious threads on his wrists, explaining that he received them during visits to three Hindu temples in Canada recently. He called them symbols of “good luck” and “protection,” adding with a smile, “I’m not taking them off until they fall off”.

Trudeau was also seen interacting warmly with the community, celebrating the festival, and enjoying delicious Indian sweets like jalebis, which he jokingly said he would “save for the team.”

On November 1, Trudeau posted on X, “Happy Diwali! Today, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, and Jain families will celebrate the triumph of light over darkness with festivities, candles, diyas, and fireworks. Wishing you all joy and prosperity during this special time.”

Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Jaiswal said India condemns the recent allegations made by the Canadian government against Shah that he was purportedly involved in the killing of Nijjar and called it “absurd and baseless”.

Jaiswal also said that India had summoned the Canadian High Commissioner on Friday to protest in the strongest terms for the references made to the Union Home Minister of India before the Committee by Canada’s Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison.

On Tuesday, Morrison claimed that Shah orchestrated a campaign of violence, intimidation, and intelligence-gathering aimed at Sikh separatists on Canadian soil. He informed members of Canada’s national security committee in Parliament that he had confirmed Shah’s name to The Washington Post, which was the first to report the allegations. However, Morrison did not provide details on how Canada became aware of Shah’s alleged involvement.

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India, China complete disengagement in Depsang, Demchok at LAC after 4 years standoff

The Indian Army said that coordinated patrolling will start soon by both sides, and the ground commanders will continue to hold talks.

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India, China complete disengagement in Depsang, Demchok at LAC after 4 years standoff

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.

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Iran says 2 soldiers killed in Israeli air strikes

Emphasising Iran’s right to self-defense under the UN Charter, the Iranian Foreign Ministry highlighted its obligation to counter foreign aggression.

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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.

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