Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, will visit India next month to bolster bilateral ties.
He will be accompanied by a huge business delegation, said India’s Finance Minister P. Chidambaram at the Council of Saudi Chambers (CSC) on Tuesday.
Addressing a joint business council meeting, Chidambaram said: “I met with the crown prince this morning and we mutually agreed that the business community of the two countries could play a major role in further enhancing bilateral trade relations.”
The crown prince received Chidambaram and the accompanying delegation Tuesday morning, and reviewed bilateral relations and discussed ways to boost ties.
Chidambaram said the upcoming visit of the crown prince would be a follow-up of the earlier visit by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah in 2006, which was reciprocated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2010.
The two countries had signed the “Delhi Declaration” and the “Riyadh Declaration,” exchanged views and had in-depth discussions that touched upon the mutual interests of the two countries.
Describing the two visits as “high points of our ties,” Chidambaram said: “Now this visit will herald a new era in Indo-Saudi relations and would constitute a landmark in the development of increased understanding and cooperation between the two countries and creation of a mutually beneficial partnership.”
“Our relation is historic. King Saud visited India in 1955 and then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru visited the Kingdom in 1956. Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s visit to the Kingdom in 1982 further boosted bilateral relations.”
Chidambaram said that during the visit of the Crown Prince, the business delegation would look into major areas of possible investment in India.
Maintaining that the Kingdom is the largest supplier of crude oil to India, constituting19 percent of India’s crude imports, the visiting minister highlighted pharmaceuticals, medicine, education, tourism and transport as major sectors for investment in India. “Now, FDI is direct route for investment and we have foreign investment promotion board to look into matters of assistance for the investors,” he added.
Presiding over the session, Abdullah Al-Mobty, chairman, Council of Saudi Chambers (CSC), said: “The Crown Prince’s visit to India will bolster bilateral ties and seek stronger co-operation between the two friendly countries.”
Al-Mobty said there are 2.8 million Indians working in the Kingdom. “Saudi Arabia is the 4th largest trading partner for India, which speak for itself, and reflects the fact that both countries are developing a broad strategic vision and are determined to work together closely for the welfare and benefit of their peoples and for peace and stability,” he said.
In this reference, he also referred to the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation’s (SABIC) establishing $100 million technology center in Bangalore recently, which is only the second of its kind outside the Kingdom with the other being in China.
The CSC chairman exuded confidence that bilateral visits will pave the way for further strengthening co-operation and protect mutual interests for better results.
Earlier, the Indian minister also met with Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, second deputy premier, and discussed bilateral issues and sought each other’s co-operation to further enhance relations between the two valued partners.
