In a flurry of diplomatic activity amid surging Indo-Pak tensions, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir paid a surprise visit to New Delhi on Thursday, meeting with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.
The unscheduled visit comes a day after India launched precision strikes in Pakistan and PoK under Operation Sindoor, in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians.
Jaishankar, in a brief social media post, described the meeting as “good” and said he shared India’s firm stance on countering terrorism. The Saudi official, also the kingdom’s climate envoy, did not issue any formal statement.
Just hours earlier, Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi arrived in New Delhi for a long-planned meeting of the India-Iran Joint Commission. Araghchi, however, stirred unease in New Delhi after offering to mediate between India and Pakistan—both of which he described as “brotherly neighbours.” His prior visit to Islamabad and comments on Iran’s readiness to “forge understanding” were seen as an attempt at diplomatic balancing.
Meanwhile, reports from Islamabad hinted at back-channel talks between Indian and Pakistani National Security Advisers (NSAs). Pakistan’s newly appointed NSA, ISI chief Lt Gen Muhammad Asim Malik, reportedly made contact with his Indian counterpart, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar confirmed in an interview with TRT World, though he withheld further details.
The NSA-level engagement, if confirmed, would mark the latest in a series of discreet communications between the two rivals, often conducted in neutral territories like Thailand or the UK, especially during high-alert situations.
