London: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman’s visit to London will turn to defence and security on Friday as he meets British defence minister Gavin Williamson, touching on the most contentious element of his trip: arms sales.
Britain and Saudi Arabia have set themselves a 65 billion pound trade and investment target for the coming years, with London looking for new post-Brexit markets for its services sector, and Mohammad seeking to convince wary investors his country is a tolerant and modernising place.
But, for now the beating heart of bilateral trade ties remains defence and security.
Britain credits Saudi intelligence sharing with saving British lives and has licensed billions of pounds of weapons and ammunition sales to Saudi Arabia.
Friday’s meeting is expected to include talks on the sale of up to 48 Typhoon fighter jets made by British firm BAE Systems - a multi-billion pound deal which has been under discussion for years but has proven tough to seal.
A statement from May’s office said Britain has licensed £4.6 billion (Dh23.4 billion) of weapons sales to Saudi Arabia since 2015.
May said all arms sales were strictly regulated, that Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the conflict was backed by the UN Security Council and her government supported it.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Anglican church says Saudi Arabia’s crown prince is committed to the flourishing of different faiths in his strict Sunni Muslim kingdom.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby met Mohammad Thursday in London.
The archbishop’s Lambeth Palace office said “the crown prince made a strong commitment to promote the flourishing of those of different faith traditions, and to interfaith dialogue within the Kingdom and beyond.”
Special gift
May’s office said she presented Mohammad with a family tree showing the descent of the Al Saud dynasty.
Downing Street said the framed document was originally created by Queen Victoria’s consul general in Jeddah in 1880.
