India takes swipe at MBS' $20bn 'investment' in Pakistan

Even as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) on Monday signed investment agreements worth $20 billion during his high-profile visit to Pakistan, a top government source in India said it is a 'mere bailout'.

The prince is on an Asia tour, the next stop of which is India where the Pulwama terror attack will be high on the agenda. Interestingly though, instead of coming from Islamabad to Delhi, MBS will return to Riyadh and then leave for India; a move that is being seen as a subtle message of de-hyphenation between India and Pakistan.

"Can't compare the ties that Saudi has with India and with Pakistan. When they invest in India, they invest in a robust economy. They are not here to bail out India," the source said, adding, "Our relationship has radically transformed in the last few years. We are looking at a joint naval exercise. If someone should be worried, it should be Pakistan." They further revealed that there is no comparison between Riyadh's investments in the two countries as "the investment in India is an investment in a robust economy growing at 7 per cent."

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan on Monday also called for avoiding "politicisation" of the UN listing regime at a time when India was stepping up its efforts to brand Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror group's chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist. The move may not go well in New Delhi. However, Saudi, via foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir, has clarified that "Our objective is to try to de-escalate tensions between the two countries and see if there is a path forward.

(with agency inputs)