President Joe Biden will visit Saudi Arabia in his trip to West Asia, as announced by The White House on Tuesday.It will be his first visit to the Middle East. And an expected meeting with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia as part of a larger trip to West Asia in July and his visit will involve commerce with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS), who, according to the U.S. intelligence agencies, was the architect behind the brutal murder of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. During his presidential crusade, Mr. Biden had pledged to insulate Saudi Arabia over the profit and make it “ pay ”.
The Main Motive
Biden’s trip will comprise a visit to Israel, the West Bank and Jeddah ( Saudi Arabia), on July 13 – 16, during which time he’ll also hold a virtual peak position meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and the UAE’s President, Mohammed bin Zayed, as part of the I2- U2 ( India, Israel, the U.S. and the UAE) country grouping.
In West Asia, the U.S. is engaged in alliances that include an admixture of countries in the region and those outside, a durability of the Trump administration’s trouble to help make Israel’s links to other countries. The Israel leg of Mr. Biden’s trip, according to a elderly administration functionary, who didn’t want to be named, was to not just “ reaffirm ” the U.S.’s ” ironclad ” commitment to Israel’s security but also consolidate areas of cooperation across sectors, and enhance Israel’s integration with indigenous countries, similar as in groups that include countries from outside West Asia.
“ And in this regard, the President will hold a virtual peak with the I2- U2 heads of state for exchanges of the food security extremity, and other areas of cooperation across factors, where the UAE and Israel serve as important invention eyes, ” the functionary told intelligencers on a briefing call on Monday. There will also be “ side meetings and engagements ” which will be blazoned later.
The President’s trip to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which will be followed by visits to Israel and the West Bank, is centered around a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council plus three ( GCC 3). The GCC is a profitable and political alliance of six West Asian countries.
“ So yes, we can anticipate the President to see the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia” the functionary said.
On Wednesday, the administration functionary defended the move saying the engagement with Saudi Arabia had helped yield results — especially a armistice to a conflict between a Saudi- led coalition and revolutionists in Yemen, and an agreement by Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries to increase affair of oil painting oil oil painting by 50, ahead of schedule. Petrol pricesintheU.S. and down have been soaring, and while there has been opposition to Mr. Biden’s visit to the Kingdom from lawgivers, some have suggested he use the relationship to furtherU.S. interests.
“ From the principal days of our administration, we made clear that the U.S. policy demanded recalibration and relations with this important country but not a rupture, ” the functionary said on Monday.
Last week, members of Congress wrote to Mr. Biden asking him to “ further recalibrate ” the bilateral relationship of the two countries so it serves the American interests. The administration functionary said Crown Prince Mohammed had played “ a critical part ” in extending, beyond its original two months, an April armistice with Houthi revolutionists in Yemen.
The US President is expected to discuss human rights, which is a core issue for the Democrats during his visit in the region, including that in Jeddah.