Israel, Saudi Arabia, and churn in the Middle East: The view from India

News Snapshot:

The United States is trying to forge a mutual defence treaty with Saudi Arabia, and help Israel in its conflicts with Hamas and Iran, such that “Israel and Saudi Arabia are trading places”, columnist Thomas Friedman wrote in The New York Times last week. According to the article, the Saudi-US deal will pivot on the specific ways in which the US will control the civilian nuclear energy programme that the kingdom will get; the precise — whether explicit or less formal — nature of the mutual defence pact; and on Saudi Arabia’s commitment to not move from US dollars to...