RIYADH, 2 July — The Shoura Council yesterday endorsed a memorandum of understanding signed by Saudi Arabia and India in January for coordination between their foreign ministries. This was announced by Dr. Hamoud Al-Badr, secretary-general of the council.
Speaking to the Saudi Press Agency, Al-Badr said the memorandum would help promote political contacts between the two Asian countries and strengthen bilateral cooperation in all areas.
“It affirms commitment by the two countries to objectives and principles envisaged by the United Nations to achieve prosperity and bolster international peace and stability,” he added.
The 120-member Shoura approved the memorandum after hearing a report from Dr. Bandar Al-Aiban, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, who explained its implications on bilateral relations, especially on matters related to India’s Muslim population. There are about 150 million Muslims in the country, the largest Muslim minority in the world. The memorandum was signed last January during a landmark visit by India’s External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh to the Kingdom. The agreement on foreign office consultation will provide for a regular exchange of views on issues of mutual concern at the regional or international levels.
After meeting top Saudi officials in Riyadh, Singh had said that Saudi-Indian relations should not be dictated by economic concerns alone but also by geopolitical considerations. “The security of the two regions is inseparable and we must work together with the recognition of that reality,” Singh told Saudi officials during his visit.
Describing Saudi-Indian relations as strong, Indian Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad said they were set to grow as there would be a fivefold increase in Indian oil imports from the Kingdom over the next five years. India imports annually 7.5 million tons of crude oil from Saudi Arabia constituting 20 percent of its total imports. The expansion and diversification of their relations would be undertaken within the framework of the Saudi-Indian Joint Economic Commission. Bilateral trade has remained steady at over $3 billion annually.
Saudi-Indian Joint Commission will hold its next session in Riyadh in the near future, Ahmad said. A meeting of the Saudi-Indian Joint Business Council will also be held along with the joint commission meeting, he added.
Currently, there are 21 Saudi-Indian joint ventures in the Kingdom and 33 in India. Soon after new investment regulations came into force in the Kingdom, several Indian firms obtained licenses to set up multimillion-dollar projects in the Kingdom. Indian pharmaceutical firm Ajanta Pharma has set up a joint venture in Jeddah to produce a variety of prescription and over-the-counter medicines.
More than 1.5 million Indians work in the Kingdom, the largest contingent of foreign work force in the country.
