The changed Arab street opinion, possible Turkish activism, outright Iranian support for Hamas and Qatar’s blaming of Israel for the current explosion certainly limit the bandwidth for the Kingdom, which could potentially slow down its covert diplomatic engagements with Tel Aviv for an overt normalisation deal, if not lead to an outright break in engagement.

One of the most significant outcomes for India from the recently held G20 Summit in New Delhi in September 2023 is the announcement of an ambitious global economic corridor connecting South Asia to Europe.

Saudi Arabia has often been touted as the springboard of support for the Pakistani political establishment. This Gulf Arab monarchy has for many decades opened its financial largesse to sustain Islamabad’s declining economy.

Imran Khan seems to have already pushed the ‘militablishment’ to the corner and forced it to tread carefully. However, he does not seem inclined to rein in the military; he is only sulking over the former army chief’s alleged inaction to save him from losing his prime ministership…

What makes this agreement quite significant is Beijing’s willingness to shed its image of a silent power and go beyond its usual emphasis on pursuing its economic interests to not only actively encourage détente between two regional hostile powers but also but bring them on the table and get them to sign an agreement “to resume diplomatic relations between them and re-open their embassies and missions within a period not exceeding two months”.