WASHINGTON, Nov 19 — United States (US) President Donald Trump has said that he is upgrading ties with Saudi Arabia, designating the Kingdom as a major non-Nato US ally, Anadolu Ajansi reported.
"I am pleased to announce that we are taking our military cooperation to even greater heights by formally designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally, which is something that is very important to them," said Trump as he hosted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for a formal dinner at the White House.
"I am just telling you now for the first time, because they wanted to keep a little secret for tonight...That is another point you won today, and signing a historic strategic defence agreement, which we just signed a little while ago. So congratulations," he added to applause.
Major non-NATO allies are granted certain defence trade and security cooperation benefits, including the ability to enter into joint research and development programs with the Pentagon and privileged access to US weaponry, training, and loans.
Other major non-NATO allies include Bahrain, Colombia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Pakistan, Qatar, South Korea, and Tunisia.
The designation does not in and of itself provide any security guarantees, but the White House previously said that Trump and the Crown Prince signed a strategic defence agreement that it said "strengthens our more than 80-year defence partnership and fortifies deterrence across the Middle East."
It is unclear if the deterrence mentioned includes a guarantee that the US would defend Saudi Arabia if it were to come under attack. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.
