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Shared interest to promote regional peace, stability: Modi ahead of Saudi visit
This is Modi’s third visit to Saudi Arabia in the past decade and the first to the city of Jeddah. The trip follows Mohammed bin Salman’s state visit to India in 2023.
India and Saudi Arabia have a shared interest in promoting regional peace, security and stability, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday as he began a two-day visit to the kingdom that is expected to bolster trade and defence relations.
The two countries have developed a mutually beneficial and substantive partnership in the domains of defence, trade, investment, energy and people-to-people ties, and India deeply values its ties with Saudi Arabia that have “acquired strategic depth and momentum in recent years”, Modi said in a statement ahead of his departure.
“We have shared interest and commitment to promote regional peace, prosperity, security and stability,” he said.
“Leaving for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where I will be attending various meetings and programmes... Bilateral ties have gained significant momentum in the last decade,” Modi said in a separate social media post. He said he looked forward to participating in the second meeting of the Strategic Partnership Council.
Modi and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also the prime minister of Saudi Arabia, will co-chair the meeting of the Strategic Partnership Council, which is the apex body guiding bilateral relations in areas ranging from politics and security to trade and culture.
This is Modi’s third visit to Saudi Arabia in the past decade and the first to the city of Jeddah. The trip follows Mohammed bin Salman’s state visit to India in 2023.
“I am also eager to connect with the vibrant Indian community in Saudi Arabia that continues to serve as the living bridge between our nations and [is] making immense contribution to strengthening the cultural and human ties,” Modi said in his statement.
The two sides are expected to make an announcement about taking forward Saudi Arabia’s plan to invest $100 billion in India, originally unveiled during a visit to India by Mohammed bin Salman in 2019. Several procedural issues, including taxation, had held up the investments, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.
These issues were addressed during a meeting of the India-Saudi High Level Task Force on Investments in Riyadh on Monday. The meeting was co-chaired by PK Mishra, principal secretary to the prime minister, and Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the energy minister of Saudi Arabia, the people said.
Total Saudi investments in India, including that of sovereign wealth funds, are worth about $10 billion.
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. Saudi Arabia is India’s fifth largest trade partner, while India is Saudi Arabia’s second largest trade partner and plays a key role in the kingdom’s food security, with rice exports alone worth about $1 billion annually.
Energy trade was worth $25.7 billion during 2023-24, and Saudi Arabia was India’s third largest source of both crude oil imports (14.3% of total imports) and liquefied petroleum gas (18% of total imports).
Saudi Arabia also hosts the second largest Indian expatriate community of 2.7 million.
