City Riyadh Financial News

Modi will hold talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also the PM of Saudi Arabia. Both sides will look to take forward agreements finalised during the crown prince’s trip to India in 2023. The protracted Israel-Hamas crisis and tensions in the Red Sea besides the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC) are likely to figure in the discussion agenda, it has been learnt. Saudi Arabia plays a critical role in the proposed IMEEC connecting India with Europe through UAE and Saudi Arabia. Ahead of the PM's trip to Riyadh, Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, also the Defence Minister of UAE, is expected to visit New Delhi next week in yet another display of special ties. Sheikh Hamdan will meet defence minister Rajnath Singh as India moves to step up engagements with UAE’s next generation leadership. Last year, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi was hosted by the Modi government.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Akasa Air, India’s third largest airline, is tapping into the month-long demand for Hajj travel to deploy its aircraft capacity left underutilized after services to parts of West Asia were scaled back due to the ongoing war in the region, according to a person aware of the development.Approximately five to six airplanes were used on the West Asia route, which are now being used majorly for Hajj travel," said the person quoted above, requesting anonymity as this plan is part of business strategy.Flights to and from Doha, Riyadh and Kuwait have been suspended until 30 April, according to the airline’s 21 April post on X. While it continues to operate flights to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia—the main gateway for pilgrims going to Mecca—from Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kochi and Kozhikode, Akasa is evaluating resumption of flights to Abu Dhabi, the post said.Akasa Air did not respond to Mint’s queries on aircraft utilization, Hajj travel and the impact of the West Asia crisis.The airline has inducted eight new aircraft in 2026, taking the fleet size to 38.

Iran’s strategy in its war with the US and Israel is clear: Impose an intolerable economic cost on US President Donald Trump, forcing him to abandon his ‘war of choice’ as American petrol prices surge. Is there any way the Islamic Republic’s blueprint for survival can fail? Yes, if its old regional nemesis, Saudi Arabia, can step in to cushion the global oil market.Enter the East-West pipeline, a 1,200km conduit crisscrossing the Arabian Peninsula from the Gulf to the Red Sea. Its raison d’être is to meet this historic moment.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Syria’s possible descent into another civil war, Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, the United Arab Emirates’ failed offensive in Yemen, final U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, and the slow transition from war to peace in Gaza may appear to be disconnected events in a fractious region.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The language of diplomats is polite. That is especially true for those who speak Arabic, a tongue inclined towards courtesies and honorifics.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Saudi Arabia’s state-backed media has been taking an increasingly anti-Israel tone, a further indication of the diminishing prospects for diplomatic normalization between the two Middle East powers. In one example, a January editorial in the daily Al Riyadh criticized Israel for disregarding international law and state sovereignty.

Tesla share price rose 3.4 per cent on Tuesday even as Billionaire Elon Musk reportedly held a crucial meeting with employees, as per a report. Parleys between Musk, who is a key advisor to US President Donald Trump's administration, and Tesla employees and investors have been an assuring one, Fortune reported quoting Wedbush analyst Dan Ives. The meeting, which streamed online, had Musk speaking positive things to employees even as he claimed the future for Tesla looks bright. However, even after Tuesday's gain, Tesla's stock nevertheless remains down nearly 29 per cent for 2025 so far.

The meeting will precede talks between the U.S. and Russian delegations which are scheduled for Monday. The meetings follow a series of talks held in Saudi Arabia, first between the U.S. and Russia, and then later between the U.S. and Ukraine, when Kyiv accepted a 30-day truce proposal. The Ukrainian delegation at Sunday's meeting will be led by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy earlier said this fact would allow Kyiv to act in a «very quick and very substantive» way. However, Ukrainian officials have said they still see Sunday's meeting in Riyadh as purely technical.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. A mineral-rights deal that the Trump administration says will make the U.S. vested in Ukraine’s defense has an instructive historical precedent in Washington’s unofficial oil-for-security pact with Saudi Arabia.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Saudi Arabia's upcoming second national airline, Riyadh Air, is expected to start operations in India in 2026. According to Tony Douglas, chief executive officer (CEO) of Riyadh Air, the airline is open to partnering with Indian airlines like Air India and IndiGo and Indian information technology (IT) companies for its digital infrastructure.

Air India and IndiGo, to capitalize on the growing demand in the Indian market, according to a top executive. In an interview with PTI, Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas noted the importance of the Indian subcontinent to the airline's expansion plans. «It's not secret for us the importance of India and therefore we'll look to explore see whether its of interest of both parties...we're interested in the opinions that Air India and IndiGo have got. Hopefully, very excited announcements,» he said.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. President Trump’s high-speed effort to end the war in Ukraine is on a collision course with Russia’s negotiating tactics and President Vladimir Putin’s goals in the conflict. After the first meeting in years between U.S.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. A new world order is emerging and India will have to defend its rightful place in it. It all started at the annual Munich Security Conference, which is usually a quiet affair and dominated by defence ministers, diplomats, security analysts and policy wonks as they engage in dialogue to peacefully resolve conflicts around the world.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The PAST week has been the bleakest in Europe since the fall of the Iron Curtain. Ukraine is being sold out, Russia is being rehabilitated and, under Donald Trump, America can no longer be counted on to come to Europe’s aid in wartime.

Ukraine peace talks' on Tuesday in Riyadh. With the 'elephant' of Ukraine not in the room, frankly, the meeting was more about 'resumption' of US-Russia ties and Moscow's view of Europe's security architecture than ending the Russia-Ukraine war. The Riyadh meeting, and much of Donald Trump's statements on international relations, signal a direction of travel: an increasingly multipolar world with its separate spheres of influence (SoI).

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Judged by the din of Russian propaganda and the despair among some Europeans, Vladimir Putin has never been closer to winning his war on Ukraine. Yet three years after his invasion, it is not clear what “win" means.

Donald Trump has a decades-long history of bashing the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, starting with his 1987 book Trump: The Art of the Deal where he blamed the group for cripplingly high energy costs. Unsurprisingly, it only took him 72 hours after being sworn in to take aim at the cartel.

Brent crude futures were down 50 cents at $77.95 a barrel by 0044 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) shed 31 cents to $74.31.