Army Chief Gen Naravane leaves for UAE, Saudi Arabia

Army Chief Gen MM Naravane on Tuesday left on a six-day tour of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, in a uncommon go to reflecting India’s rising strategic ties with the 2 influential Gulf nations. The go to comes within the midst of fast-paced developments within the Gulf area together with normalisation of Israel’s relations with a number of Arab nations in addition to scenario arising out of the assassination of Iran’s prime nuclear weapons scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

It is for the primary time that an Indian Army chief is visiting the 2 Gulf nations, officers stated

The Army chief’s first vacation spot would be the United Arab Emirates the place he’ll meet senior army officers and talk about avenues for enhancing bilateral defence cooperation.

“General MM Naravane, the Chief of Army Staff has proceeded on a visit to the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from December 9 to 14,” the Army stated in an announcement.

According to the official schedule, the Army Chief will go to Saudi Arabia from December 13 to 14.

“He will take forward the excellent defence cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and India through multiple meetings with senior functionaries of the security establishment and exchange views on various defence related issues,” the Army stated.

It stated Gen Naravane will go to the headquarters of Royal Saudi land pressure, the Joint pressure command headquarters and King Abdul Aziz Military Academy.

The Army chief can be scheduled to go to Saudi Arabia’s National Defence University and handle the scholars and college on the establishment.

In the previous couple of years, India’s ties with Saudi Arabia and the UAE have witnessed a significant upswing.

It is learnt that Saudi Arabia is eager to collaborate with India on joint manufacturing of defence gear.

Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth largest commerce companion after China, the US and Japan, and a significant supply of power. India imports round 18% of its crude oil requirement from the nation.

Saudi Arabia can be a significant supply of LPG for India.

Last month, the Army chief travelled to Nepal on a three-day go to that had vital diplomatic overtone.

In October, Gen. Naravane travelled to Myanmar together with Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on a really essential go to throughout which India determined to produce an assault submarine to the Myanmar Navy apart from agreeing to additional deepen army and defence ties.