Saudi fighter jets escort PM Modi's plane to Jeddah in special gesture | Watch
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took off for his Saudi Arabia visit on Tuesday morning on the invitation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
In a special gesture, fighter planes from Saudi Arabia escorted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's plane as it entered the Saudi airspace to Jeddah on Tuesday, April 22, on the first visit by any Indian PM to the port city in 40 years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's aircraft was escorted by F-15s of the Royal Saudi Air Force in the Saudi airspace. Follow PM Modi Saudi visit LIVE updates
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took off for his Saudi Arabia visit on Tuesday morning on the invitation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
In his departure statement ahead of his two-day visit to the kingdom, PM Modi said India deeply values its long and historic ties with Saudi Arabia, asserting that their relations have acquired a strategic depth and momentum in recent years.
PM Modi said both countries have developed a mutually beneficial and substantive partnership, including in the domains of defence, trade, investment, energy and people-to-people ties.
PM Modi Saudi visit | What's expected
Trade and investment, energy and defence cooperation, the regional security situation and connectivity initiatives are expected to figure in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman next week, foreign secretary Vikram Misri said on Saturday.
The two countries are expected to finalise several agreements to bolster cooperation during the visit, which will see Modi and Mohammed bin Salman co-chair the second meeting of the bilateral Strategic Partnership Council, Misri told a media briefing.
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Highly placed sources cited in a news agency PTI report said that PM Modi might also discuss issues relating to Hajj including the quota for Indian pilgrims during his meeting with Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud in the evening.
"Jeddah is a very, very significant city in terms of connectivity between India and Saudi Arabia because for centuries, Jeddah was the port for the trade between the two countries, and it is also a gateway to Mecca. So anyone who is coming for Umrah and Hajj lands up in Jeddah and then goes to Mecca," Indian ambassador to Saudi Arabia Suhel Ajaz Khan told the news agency ahead of the prime minister's visit.
"Hajj is a very important activity and the Government of India gives it a lot of importance. Ministry of Minority Affairs has been arranging this activity... There are various issues discussed in the bilateral talks. There has always been a great coordination between the Saudi government and India on Hajj," the ambassador added.
