Syrian forces leave Sweida after ceasefire with Druze militias goes into effect    France withdraws troops from Senegal, ending military presence in West Africa    Germany's Merz and UK's Starmer sign 'first of its kind' defense and migration treaty    Norway leads Europe's best airports list    Main stage at Belgium's Tomorrowland music festival completely destroyed by fire    Sports vehicles can have now short number plates    First Saudi relief plane lands in Aleppo to aid Syria wildfire victims    Over 40 million worshippers prayed at Prophet's Mosque during Hajj season    Saudi Arabia draw Iraq and Indonesia in 2026 World Cup Asian play-off group    Saudi conjoined twins Yara and Lara successfully separated in 12.5-hour surgery    Babies made using three people's DNA are born free of hereditary disease    'Art of the Kingdom' exhibition to open in Beijing's National Museum on July 30    Saudi minister holds strategic AI and tech talks with French institutions in Paris    Youth-led Saudi businesses exceed 474K    ASICS and Saudi Sports for All launch startup pitch to boost sports innovation in Saudi Arabia    Scientists recover proteins from a 24 million-year-old rhino fossil    Saudi Arabia to expand railway network by over 50% under transport strategy    Jorge Jesus returns to Saudi Arabia as Al Nassr head coach on one-year deal    Jannik Sinner beats Carlos Alcaraz to win his maiden Wimbledon title    Chelsea defeat PSG 3-0 to win first expanded Club World Cup    Sholay: Bollywood epic roars back to big screen after 50 years with new ending    Ministry launches online booking for slaughterhouses on eve of Eid Al-Adha    Shah Rukh Khan makes Met Gala debut in Sabyasachi    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



We go to the East the way we go to the West
Al-Riyadh Editorial
Published in Alriyadh on 05 - 03 - 2014

If An Arab High Official went to Asian countries or agreed about common investments with them, the Western doubts start commenting on such visit through focused campaigns to the extent of that KSA Crown Prince Salman's visit to Pakistan has been put under a red circle by the European & American media men. The predicted that the purpose of the said visit is buying nuclear weapons from Pakistan for making a power balance with Iran! However, we do not realize such excessive sensitivity in the Asian countries when the Arab High officials go to the West in spite of that they are the biggest buyers of weapons and the major partners in common trade with them, in addition to that the reserves of the Western banks are consisted of Aram money and fortunes.
General Sisi went to Moscow for making Arms deal financed by Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. The said visit had no ideological background as leaders of most Arab countries used to go there during the Soviet Union time under the socilast trend against the imperial enemy. In spite of this, Egypt has been put under the microscope of Media and monitoring and analysis entities who wondered how would this visit affect their relationship with Egypt and does such trend mean the return of Russia strongly to the region for becoming the objective alternative of the West?
This is happening at this time in which such thinking or distribution of roles does not impose making friendships under the principle of alliances any more as that time has gone and the relationships are now built on the bases of interests only.
Prince Salman, for example, visited Pakistan and is heading to Japan after it. At this point, questions have started to be asked not only from the West but from China, the highly sensitive state, as well, to the extent of raising questions about whether such visit means making oil and petrochemical deals with Japan together with common investments at the expense of China.
The source of such fears is related to its political movement towards supporting Al-Assad's regime and marching behind the Russian policy, in spite of that these fears have no background as the options of the Kingdom in regard to its relationships are not subject to temporal reactions. What the Kingdom may get from Japan may not get it from China and vice versa. China's attitude regarding the Syrian condition has no background unless the obsession of the cold war with the West is still present in its mind together with considering that sacrificing a nation for the sake of its regime is a part from administrating the invisible war. The interest of China with the United States, Europe and GCC region is hundreds of times more than its economic and commercial relationships with Russia or Syria to the extent that even Bahrain is more important than Syria in regard to the commercial exchange with China.
Through following the same concept, Prince Salman is going to visit India which have a sharp disagreement with Pakistan together with rooted disputes about the borders and other religious and national revenge issues. The Kingdom knows that diversification of its relationships is not subject to Eastern or Western interpretations. The proof of this is that the European and American financial and economical activities in the Saudi Market is tens of times more than their activities in Asia. This does not make any concerns that may make a certain country disturbed from another one due to that each state has its options of finding its interests with any party. During the cold war era, we used to be heading towards the West more than the East and that trend cost us politically, economically and socially, in addition to that it had raised hostilities with external and Arab countries. However, we had headed where we thought that our targets meet with others' targets. It had been an independent and free behavior which is not subject to any party.
It is true that we are not in a state of permanent harmony with the American partner which represents the biggest one to us. However, our countries interests have not been subject to damage because of this as we do not mix between politics and interests which may be linked together in many situations. We still have the same level of strategic relationships with the United States and Europe as well. The problem of these countries is that they build their vision on monopolizing this relationship without realizing that the Kingdom is not one of the countries which receives aids and loans. This independence freed the Kingdom from any guardianship or interference in its affairs whether from the East or from the West.


Clic here to read the story from its source.