By New York Times |Cairo |Published: February 21, 2019 1:36:38 pm
Amid trouble with the West, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince looks East
Historically, Saudi Arabia’s relationship with Asia was mostly transactional, with the kingdom selling crude oil to power Asian economies while importing manufactured products.
Written by Ben Hubbard and Javier C. Hernández
In his swing through Asia this week, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia vowed to invest billions of dollars in Pakistan and pushed to sell more oil to India. He will also explore deepening economic ties with China.
The trip, by the de facto ruler of a wealthy Arab kingdom that has long considered the United States its most important ally, highlights the extent to which Saudi Arabia is increasingly looking to Asia for political and technological support that it cannot always count on from the West, analysts said.
Saudi Arabia’s need to diversify its alliances has grown more acute amid the Western backlash over the killing of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in Istanbul in October. Congress has pursued measures to blame Crown Prince Mohammed for the killing and limit military aid to the kingdom, while American tech companies that the crown prince heavily courted for projects in the kingdom have stepped back for fear of damaging their reputations.
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But the countries that Crown Prince Mohammed is visiting this week — Pakistan, India and China — have expressed no such concerns, prioritizing economic ties with the kingdom over concerns about its respect for human rights.
In turning east, the Saudis are also sending a message to the West, analysts said.
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