NSA Ajit Doval meets Saudi Foreign Minister, discusses energy security and regional situation
India's National Security Advisor held talks with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister in Riyadh, reviewing bilateral relations, energy cooperation and the protection of maritime shipping routes.
The talks took place amid heightened tension in West Asia, following an announcement by Yemen's Houthi movement of a "maritime embargo" against Saudi Arabia, threatening to block Saudi vessels transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The visit marked the NSA's second visit to Saudi Arabia in two months and third such visit in 2026, reflecting an intensification of high-level India-Gulf engagement during the ongoing regional crisis.
Discussions focused on safeguarding energy supplies, protecting sea lanes, and the safety of Indian nationals and seafarers operating in the region.
The India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council (2019)
India and Saudi Arabia established a Strategic Partnership Council (SPC) through an agreement signed during a prime ministerial visit to Riyadh in October 2019. The SPC created a high-level institutional mechanism — headed at the political level and supported by ministerial committees — to steer the bilateral relationship on a sustained basis, rather than relying only on periodic state visits.
Key Details
- The SPC agreement was signed in October 2019; the Union Cabinet subsequently approved it post facto.
- The Council operates through two ministerial-level committees, one on political, security, social and cultural cooperation, and another on economy and investment.
- During the Saudi Crown Prince's 2019 visit to India, Saudi Arabia had announced an intended investment of about USD 100 billion across Indian sectors including energy, refining, petrochemicals and infrastructure.
- The Strategic Partnership Council format is similar to institutional mechanisms India maintains with a small set of countries (e.g., UAE, Russia) for sustained high-level coordination beyond routine diplomacy.
The frequency of NSA-level engagement (three visits in 2026 alone) reflects the institutionalised, high-frequency coordination mechanism the SPC was designed to enable, particularly relevant when a live regional crisis requires rapid consultation.
National Security Advisor and the National Security Council of India
The post of National Security Advisor (NSA) was created in November 1998, along with the National Security Council (NSC), by the government headed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in the aftermath of the Pokhran-II nuclear tests, to provide the Prime Minister with dedicated strategic and security advice outside the regular ministerial bureaucracy.
Key Details
- Brajesh Mishra was India's first NSA (1998-2004); the NSA is appointed by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet and typically drawn from the Indian Foreign Service or Indian Police Service.
- The National Security Council is headed by the NSA and includes members such as the Union Ministers of Defence, External Affairs, Home, Finance and the Deputy Chairman of NITI Aayog; it is supported by the National Security Council Secretariat and the Strategic Policy Group.
- The NSA has increasingly become India's principal interlocutor for sensitive, high-stakes external engagements — including boundary talks with China (Special Representatives mechanism, established 2003) and now West Asian crisis diplomacy — functions that go beyond the Ministry of External Affairs' routine diplomatic channel.
The NSA rather than the External Affairs Minister leading these Gulf consultations reflects the institution's evolved role as India's primary channel for strategic and security-sensitive diplomacy, distinct from conventional foreign-ministry engagement.
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait — A Second Red Sea Chokepoint Under Threat
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait lies between Yemen on one side and Djibouti and Eritrea on the other, connecting the Red Sea (and hence the Suez Canal route to Europe) with the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. It is a separate chokepoint from the Strait of Hormuz, and a blockade here threatens Saudi Arabia's Red Sea-facing oil export and shipping routes specifically.
Key Details
- The strait is roughly 18 miles (about 30 km) wide at its narrowest point, and roughly 12% of world trade, including a substantial share of global container trade, transits through it en route to/from the Suez Canal.
- Yemen's Houthi movement, which controls much of northern Yemen and has been aligned with Iran, has previously targeted shipping in this strait since late 2023 amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, and has now announced a fresh embargo targeting Saudi vessels specifically amid the wider Iran-US-Israel escalation.
- Unlike the Strait of Hormuz (which threatens Gulf-wide oil flows, including India's Gulf crude imports), a Bab el-Mandeb blockade principally threatens Red Sea-route trade and Saudi Arabia's non-Hormuz export corridor, making the two chokepoints strategically distinct but currently threatened simultaneously.
The NSA-Saudi FM discussion on "protecting maritime corridors" directly concerns this second, less-discussed chokepoint, which is now under direct blockade threat alongside the more familiar Hormuz crisis.
Indian Diaspora and Remittances from the Gulf Cooperation Council States
India's diplomatic engagement with Gulf states carries a significant human and economic dimension: the Gulf hosts one of the largest concentrations of overseas Indians, whose remittances form a disproportionately large share of India's total inward remittance flows.
Key Details
- Around 9.7 million Indians reside in GCC countries, including roughly 2.65 million in Saudi Arabia and 4.3 million in the UAE — together about one-quarter of India's estimated 35 million-strong overseas diaspora.
- India received about USD 118.7 billion in total remittances in FY 2023-24; Gulf-based Indians, despite being roughly a quarter of the diaspora by population, contribute close to 40% of these remittance inflows.
- Ministry of External Affairs contingency planning for Indian nationals in West Asia (evacuation, welfare, safe-passage arrangements) is a recurring feature of India's response during Gulf conflicts.
The stated concern for "the safety of Indian nationals and seafarers" during the NSA's Riyadh talks reflects this substantial diaspora and remittance stake, which sits alongside energy security as a core driver of India's Gulf engagement during the crisis.
- India-Saudi Strategic Partnership Council established: October 2019.
- India's National Security Council and NSA post created: November 1998, under PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee; first NSA was Brajesh Mishra.
- Bab el-Mandeb Strait: ~18 miles (≈30 km) wide at its narrowest; carries about 12% of world trade and roughly a quarter of global container trade via the Suez route.
- Indians in GCC countries: ~9.7 million, including ~2.65 million in Saudi Arabia and ~4.3 million in the UAE.
- Gulf-based Indians contribute close to 40% of India's total remittance inflows (~USD 118.7 billion in FY 2023-24) despite being about a quarter of the overseas diaspora.