India and Saudi on a path to strategic cooperation, PM Narendra Modi

Riyadh: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has claimed, ‘There is economic uncertainty because of the unbalanced multilateral trade. At this time, the global economy is dependent on the path chosen by the big developing economies like India and Saudi Arabia.’ Prime Minister Modi also said that the cooperation between India and Saudi Arabia has crossed the level of the seller-buyer relationship and both the countries are now taking strong steps towards a strategic cooperation.

Prime Minister Modi visited Saudi on the occasion of ‘Future Investment Initiative Forum’, known as the ‘Davos’ in the desert. Prime Minister Modi held talks with the Saudi King, Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, at this time. There were important discussions on the issue of cooperation against terrorism between the two countries.

Prime Minister Modi received a grand reception during his Saudi visit. Saudi Arabia is the second largest oil supplier to India, accounting for more than 18% of the total Indian oil imports. Prime Minister Modi pointed to the strengthening ties between the two countries, saying that the relations had crossed the level of supplier-consumer relationship.

Saying that India and Saudi share the same concerns regarding their respective neighbours, Prime Minister Modi targeted the terrorist policies of Pakistan without taking names. Prime Minister Modi said that defence and anti-terrorism cooperation is increasing between India and Saudi.

Last year, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman visited India. At that time, Prince Salman had made an announcement of investment of USD 100 billion in India. Against this background, Prime Minister expressed hope that investment in the strategic reserves in India will increase.

Before this, it had been reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman had referred to Prime Minister Modi as an elder brother. Through this, Prince Salman underlined the strengthening cooperation between the two countries.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi met a few senior Saudi Ministers and officials along with Saudi King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Prime Minister Modi also held a meeting with Jordanian King Abdulah to discuss bilateral issues.