SAUDI ARABIA AND USA RELATION KEY TO GLOBAL STABILITY

23 February 2020 Post on FB

President Donald Trump is hopeful of American-Taleban deal on 29^th February 2020. The peace deal with Taleban-USA will test the proposition for the long term friendship with Afghanistan & Pakistan for Sub-continent stability. Hopefully,  the proverb will prove correct: ‘the war time enemy is the peace time friend”.  

Most people may not be aware of that Russia was a good friend of Saudi Arabia from 1920 to 1938. In 1926, King Abdul Aziz Al Saud, father of present King Salman had noticed that the United Kingdom was not a reliable partner for Saudi Arabia and he started making friendship with President Joseph Stalin of Russia.

In 1924, Russia appointed Karim Khakimov, Soviet Muslim of Tatar descent as first Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, who made a close relationship with King Abdul Aziz. Karim Khakimov and his wife use to do Umrah with King Abdul Aziz in Makkah. His wife being a Physician use to treat patients in Makkah during Hajj for 13 years.

But Hitler advised Stalin against  close relation with Saudi Arabia. On Hitler’s advise Stalin called back Karim from Saudi Arabia and hanged him in Moscow on January 1938. . Saudi Arabia learnt about this through its own source and closed the Russian Embassy in Riyadh & Jeddah and refused to accept a new Ambassador from Soviet Union.

Fortunately, in April 1938, American Oil Company discovered world’s largest ‘Oil & Gas’ reserve in Dahran, Saudi Arabia. President Roosevelt of USA signed an agreement with King Abdul Aziz for production and marketing of oil in Dollars. Saudi Aramco company was established in New York .

The second world war (WWII) started on 1^st  September 1939 and lasted till 2^nd September 1945. After that Stalin and others in USSR tried through Kuwait and other countries  to make friendship with Saudi Arabia but Saudi refused. After 54 years, Russian Embassy was opened in Riyadh in 1992 following  break up of USSR in 1990. 

On February 14, 1945 King Abdul Aziz and President Roosevelt met aboard the USS Quincy, a naval warship of US Navy in Egypt’s Great Bitter Lake for a fresh long term relationship between Saudi Arabia and USA. Roosevelt whose main purpose was to meet with Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Yalta in the Crimea to discuss the post-war (WWII) re-organization of Germany and Europe but the meeting between King Abdul Aziz and USA changed the fate of both countries .

As it would turned out, the first and only meeting between King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud and Roosevelt had become a defining moment in the world history for the rise of Middle East till today. I hope the same thing same will happen again with Taleban-USA deal on 29^th February 2020 for Afghanistan’s wealth of oils and minerals.