PM Modi to visit Saudi Arabia this month to strengthen strategic ties
This will be Modi’s first visit to the West Asian country in over four years and will be a follow-up to the trip by the Saudi Crown Prince in September 2023
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Saudi Arabia this month to bolster economic cooperation and strengthen strategic ties between the two countries amid churn in the geopolitical realm, people familiar with the matter said.
This will be Modi’s first visit to the West Asian country in more than four years and it will be a follow-up to the trip to India by the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, in September 2023. Modi is expected to be in the kingdom during the third week of April, shortly after a planned visit by US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, the people said on condition of anonymity.
The visit is expected to be an opportunity for the two sides to take stock of trade and investment relations, which have grown significantly in recent years. Two-way trade was worth $43.3 billion in 2023-24, with Indian exports increasing during this period by 7.8% to almost $12 billion. India is currently Saudi Arabia’s second largest trade partner, and plays a key role in the West Asian country’s food security, with rice exports alone worth about $1 billion annually.
The visit will also be an opportunity for the Indian and Saudi leadership to exchange views on the situation in Gaza and efforts to end the Israel-Hamas conflict, and the work being done on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), the people said.
While ties in several spheres have grown considerably in the past five years, there were differences between the Indian and Saudi sides on the recent expansion of the Brics grouping. The Saudi side was keen on becoming the only Arab country included during the expansion, and stayed away from the last Brics Summit in 2024 despite receiving an invitation to join.
India’s decision to buy more discounted Russian crude also led to a fall in oil imports from Saudi Arabia and Iraq, which continue to be among the top three energy suppliers for New Delhi.
Saudi Arabia is also home to one of the biggest Indian expatriate communities in West Asia. The number of Indian workers in Saudi Arabia increased by 200,000 during 2023-24 while the number of registered Indian firms operating in the country grew to 3,000, propelled by a boom in sectors such as construction, infrastructure and services.
The nearly 10% increase in the number of workers in 2023-24 has taken the strength of the Indian community in Saudi Arabia to 2.65 million and Indian officials were expecting similarly robust numbers in the previous fiscal.
Bilateral defence relations too have grown, and the two sides are preparing for their third naval exercise. India’s first defence contract with Saudi Arabia in February 2024 – state-run Munitions Indian Limited (MIL) inked a deal worth $225 million to supply artillery ammunition – was followed by another deal worth $80 million for artillery ammunition last year.
