India’s NSA Ajit Doval Holds High-Level Talks in Riyadh on Energy, Bilateral Ties Amid West Asia Tension

New Delhi: India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval visited Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh on Sunday, April 19, for a round of high-level diplomatic meetings with senior Saudi leadership, as West Asia grapples with mounting instability and a fragile US-Iran ceasefire edges closer to expiry.

According to the Embassy of India in Riyadh, Doval met Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, and Saudi National Security Advisor Dr Musaed Al-Aiban. The embassy, in a post on X, said discussions spanned bilateral relations, energy cooperation, and regional developments. “During the meetings, they discussed bilateral relations, the regional situation and other issues of mutual interest,” the embassy stated.

The visit comes at a particularly sensitive moment in the region, with tensions around the Strait of Hormuz casting uncertainty over global energy flows and West Asia’s broader security architecture remaining unsettled.

The Riyadh engagements follow closely on the heels of another significant diplomatic interaction. On Friday, April 17, Doval held extensive talks in New Delhi with Rustem Umerov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal confirmed the meeting, describing it as a continuation of sustained security-level engagement between India and Kyiv.

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“The two sides reviewed bilateral relations and discussed the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. NSA reiterated India’s principled position and focus on peaceful resolution through dialogue and diplomacy,” Jaiswal wrote on X.

Both sides are also understood to have assessed the wider geopolitical fallout of the Russia-Ukraine war, now in its fourth year, including its ripple effects on global security, energy supplies, and food stability.