Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in India

The minister called on Prime Minster Narendra Modi and  conveyed greetings of His Majesty King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the Prime Minister, a press release from the Ministry of External Affairs said. The Prime Minister is said to have warmly reciprocated the wishes and thanked the Saudi leadership  for expressing “full solidarity with India in the fight against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. It was agreed that Saudi Arabia and India should work together for irreversible, verifiable and credible steps against all terrorists without any discrimination.”

Al Jubeir briefed the Prime Minister on the follow up of the outcomes of the historical visit of Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia in February 2019, during which both sides pledged to boost trade and investment and to achieve USD 100 billion investment from Saudi Arabia into India, which was announced during the visit of the Crown Prince.

During the Crown Prince’s visit it was also decided to establish a Strategic Partnership Council to cover critical issues of mutual interest, which includes investment, energy security, infrastructure and defense where several MoUs are expected to be signed.

Coming in the wake of the Pulwama terror attacks in the state of Jammu and Kashmir which killed 42 Indian security personnel, which India blamed on Pakistan based terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed, terrorism had topped the Crown Prince’s visit, who had earlier visited Islamabad. In deference to Indian sentiments, the Crown Prince had returned to Riyadh, before making his trip to New Delhi, in order to make his India visit a stand-alone one.

Minister Al Jubeir also met and held discussions with External Affairs Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj on the entire gamut of bilateral relations. They took note of significant developments after the visit of His Royal Highness to India. Ms. Swaraj reiterated that an immediate irreversible and verifiable action to dismantle terror infrastructure was essential to fight the menace of terror. It was agreed to set up the Strategic Partnership Council at the earliest.

Last week the minister had visited Pakistan and held talks with the country’s top leaders, the Kingdom’s official news agency SPA had reported.

During the visit, al-Jubeir met with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

It is widely believed that Saudi Arabia, along with the US and the UAE had been one of the countries that had played a major role in the release of  Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman from Pakistani custody.  Saudi Arabia, along with the UAE, had also played a role in inviting India as guest of honor for the very first time to the Organisation of Islamic Conference ministerial meet in Abu Dhabi earlier this month.

India and Saudi Arabia enjoy warm, close and multifaceted relations underpinned by historic, cultural, religious and economic linkages which stand elevated to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth largest trading partner and second largest supplier of our crude oil needs.

The gesture from Saudi side to increase the Hajj Quota to 2,00,000 and Royal pardon to 850 Indian Prisoners was highly appreciated.