Saudi Crown Prince to pay first state visit to India
India to host HRH Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince, Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Defence of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on his first state visit here amidst heightened tensions with neighbour Pakistan.
Crown Prince’s visit expected to give fillip bilateral relations and Suadi investments to India
Photo: Twitter / @narendramodi
HRH Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince, Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Defence of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be paying his first State visit to India on February 19-20, 2019, the Ministry of External Affairs of India announced. The visit comes at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, The Crown Prince will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, including Ministers, senior officials and leading Saudi businessmen.
During the forthcoming visit, the Crown Prince, popularly known as MBS, will call on the President and Vice President, and hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Modi. Both sides will be discussing a wide range of issues of mutual interest. India and Saudi
Arabia, who have historically enjoyed close and friendly relations anchored in mutually beneficial partnership and extensive people to people contacts, share a strategic partnership. In recent years, there has been significant progress in bilateral cooperation in key areas of mutual interest, including energy security, trade & investment, infrastructure, defence and security.
Prime Minister Modi had visited Saudi Arabia in April 2016, during which the kingdom’s highest civilian honor was conferred on him. During his visit bilateral ties got a fillip, following in on the trajectory that had been set following the landmark visit of Saudi King King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz to India in 2006.
Bilateral trade was US$ 27.48 billion during the last financial year 2017-18, making Saudi Arabia our 4th largest trading partner. Bilateral trade during April – November 2018 reached USD 23.24 billion. Saudi Arabia contributes significantly to India’s energy security needs by supplying about 20% of its crude requirements. Recently, Saudi ARAMCO in partnership with ADNOC of UAE has entered into a Joint Venture for US$ 44 billion worth Ratnagiri Refinery and Petro-Chemical project Ltd.
About 2.7 million strong and vibrant Indian community forms the largest expatriate group in Saudi Arabia. Their positive and highly-appreciated contribution to the development of their host country has been an important anchor of our excellent bilateral engagement. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also facilitates Hajj pilgrimage to over 1,75,000 Indians every year.
Current King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the father of the Crown Prince, had also earlier visited Indi in 2014 when he was Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Major deals are expected to be inked during the visit of the Crown Prince, who has set in motion a slew of economic and other reforms in the kingdom.
