NEW DELHI, 24 January 2006 — Saudi Arabia should not only look to the West. This was the message to Arab News from Chinmaya R. Garekhan, the Indian prime minister’s special envoy to the Middle East, a day before Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah arrives in India on a three-day historic visit. “We would like Saudi Arabia to look east — to India, South East Asia, China and Pakistan — rather than always to the West,” he said.

“India can offer virtually everything the West can,” the envoy said, adding that India is the 4th country in the world in Information Technology. “We make everything in India, from pins to cars to nuclear aircraft carriers. Saudi Arabia should look to our country rather than to the West.”

Garekhan pointed out that Saudi Arabia could get better value for its money in India. “If you pay $100 in America, you will pay $15 here,” he said, adding, “The return on your investments in India is much better than your return anywhere else.” He said the Kingdom and India would sign an agreement to avoid double taxation during the king’s visit.

Arab News has learned that India and Saudi Arabia will begin a dialogue on terrorism. The two countries are expected to discuss ways to combat international terrorism, trafficking in narcotics as well as smuggling of artifacts. In addition, they will discuss ways to detect false travel documents and visas, counterfeit currencies, and the smuggling of weapons and ammunition. He said India welcomed the initiative taken by the king when he asked for the establishment of an international agency for cooperation in intelligence and money laundering.

“Asked about the signing of economic deals during King Abdullah’s visit, Garekhan said that India and Saudi Arabia already have a number of joint ventures. “Currently there are 87 Indo-Saudi joint ventures in Saudi Arabia and 50 in India. We have an enormous trade flow of $9 billion. We expect the landmark visit to increase these figures,” he said. “You have the raw material. We have the market,” he pointed out.

“We would like to produce fertilizer in Saudi Arabia for export to India. We would like to produce petrochemicals in Saudi Arabia for export to India. It is a win-win situation. You have an assured market and we have an assured supply,” he noted.

The envoy said that much was expected of King Abdullah’s visit to India, especially in terms of Saudi capital flowing to India for investment in the infrastructure and energy sectors. He said that even though India’s economy was growing at a rate of 7 percent per year, “we would still welcome Saudi investment in the infrastructure.”

Asked if India was looking to Saudi Arabia to replace Iran as an energy supplier, the envoy said that his country signed a deal with Iran for energy and gas a year ago and that it expected Iran to fulfill its terms of the agreement. “We are not looking to Saudi Arabia as an alternative to Iran,” he clarified.

Garekhan mentioned that Kashmir would be on the agenda for discussions between King Abdullah and the Indian prime minister. He pointed out, however, that Saudi Arabia along with many other countries would prefer that India and Pakistan resolve the Kashmiri issue through “further bilateral talks.”

Asked about how the government of India seeks to attract more investors to India given its lack of proper highways, roads between cities and infrastructure, he admitted that infrastructure remained one of India’s weak points. “I remind you that 15 years ago, the telecommunications sector was a weak point but today, things have changed and our weak point now is infrastructure. Our roads have to be upgraded.”

He said that in the next 5 to 10 years, in order to satisfy the demands for growth, India needed to generate 100,000 megawatts of power worth $300 billion. Ninety percent of that will come from India itself, he said. If India’s economy continues to grow at 7 percent, it could become the fourth largest economy in the world according to reports from the World Bank and other international entities. “However, how fast the economy grows depends on how much collaboration India can foster with its foreign trade partners — and that is where Saudi Arabia comes into the picture,” he added.