Saudi Arabian junior foreign minister to arrive in India today for day-long visit, will hold talks with Sushma Swaraj

New Delhi: Saudi State Minister for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir will arrive in India on Monday for a brief visit, during which he will hold talks with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Jubeir’s nearly four-and-a-half-hour visit to India comes days after his trip to Islamabad. [caption id=“attachment_5279111” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir. AP[/caption] The Saudi minister met Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan on Thursday in Islamabad and delivered a “special message” from Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, according to Pakistani media reports. His visit to Islamabad took place amid global efforts to de-escalate tension between India and Pakistan triggered by the Pulwama attack and subsequent aerial strike by India on a training camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror outfit in Balakot on 26 February. Pakistan retaliated the next day by unsuccessfully attempting to target Indian military installations. The JeM had claimed responsibility for the Pulwama attack. In Pakistan, Jubeir also held talks with Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. Countries like the US, the UK, China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were involved in easing tensions between India and Pakistan. Jubeir’s visit comes after the crown prince’s standalone visits to India and Pakistan soon after the Pulwama terror attack.