NEW DELHI, 27 January 2006 — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, who was the chief guest at India’s Republic Day parade yesterday, was enthralled by the annual event that showcased the country’s military might and cultural diversity in an 85-minute extravaganza.
Huge crowds gathered in the bright sunshine along Rajpath, the capital’s central vista, to watch the marvelous parade, a heady mix of military spectacle, folk oomph, and the splendor of the unique lifestyle of India’s different regions, ethnic groups and traditional people.
King Abdullah, who was accorded the signal honor of being the chief guest at the parade, sat beside President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam who took the salute and explained the finer points of the defense equipment displayed at the event.
The two leaders were flanked by Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the marching contingents made their way from Rajpath, near the presidential palace, to the 17th-century Red Fort in the old quarters about 15 km away.
The parade, which began in 1950 to commemorate India’s emergence as a republic, received its first makeover last year and its organizer, the Defense Ministry, tightened it from the original two hours to 85 minutes to overcome what many had termed viewer fatigue.
The country’s hi-tech military might was represented by the nuclear capable Agni-I and Agni-II missiles, the home grown Arjun tanks, 155mm howitzers, indigenously developed armored vehicles equipped with mortars and the ANTPQ-37 weapon-locating radars acquired from the United States.
Saudi journalists accompanying the king were seated near the place where members of the official Saudi delegation were seated. Hundreds of invited guests from all over the world were also present to watch one of the world’s most spectacular parades.
Abdullah, the first Saudi king to visit India in 50 years, arrived here Tuesday at the head of a 250-member delegation. He held wide-ranging talks with President Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The talks focused on strengthening cooperation in energy, expanding trade exchange and fighting terrorism.
Addressing a dinner banquet given in his honor by the president on Wednesday night, King Abdullah said his visit would help strengthen relations between India and Saudi Arabia, home to more than 1.5 million Indian expatriate workers.
“These relations would improve with the increase of trade exchange and mutual investments and with our strong cooperation in the energy sector,” the king said, assuring India that Saudi Arabia would meet the South Asian country’s growing energy needs.
“India’s economic renaissance has won the admiration of the whole world and we have the pleasure to become one of India’s leading trade partners,” Abdullah told the gathering that included top officials from both countries.
He said Saudi Arabia was happy to host Indian workers, who have been making immense contributions to the Kingdom’s development and prosperity.
A staunch advocate of peace, the king urged India and Pakistan to build on their ongoing peace initiatives to reinforce peace and stability in the region. “Stability requires peace and security while wars cause total destruction,” he reminded the nuclear-armed neighbors.
“We hope that the current negotiations between India and Pakistan would lead to solving all their outstanding issues and end their conflicts,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted the king as saying. He urged New Delhi to continue its historic support for the Palestinian cause. He invited both Abdul Kalam and Manmohan Singh to visit Saudi Arabia.
In his address, President Abdul Kalam thanked the king for selecting India as one of the first countries to visit after ascending the throne in August 2005. Abdullah began his four-nation Asian tour in China where he met with President Hu Jintao and witnessed the signing of four bilateral accords. He will also visit Malaysia and Pakistan during this tour.
Abdul Kalam emphasized Saudi Arabia’s political, strategic and economic position at the world stage. He reiterated India’s readiness to cooperate with Saudi Arabia in the fight against their common enemy, terrorism. He appreciated Saudi Arabia’s efforts to host a counterterrorism international conference in Riyadh and its proposal to establish an anti-terror center.
Abdul Kalam called for a strategic relation between the two countries in the energy sector and a long-term partnership through joint projects in gas and energy in both Saudi Arabia and India. “We welcome Saudi investments and look for a new era of cooperation,” the president said. He said Saudi Arabia and India had similar views on many issues including Palestine and Iraq and on the need of maintaining peace and security in the Gulf region.
Speaking to India’s NDTV channel, Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi, who is part of the Saudi delegation, said he expected the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to maintain current output levels at its upcoming meeting. He also said that Saudi Arabia could increase supply in the last quarter of 2006 if demand warrants.
He said there would be no change at the Jan. 31 OPEC meeting in Vienna. “Unless the market changes significantly between now and the meeting, there is probably no real reason to do anything different,” he said. The minister said demand for oil may go up in the last quarter of 2006 but was unlikely to increase before that. “Should demand require more, we have the capacity to deliver up to 11 million barrels a day but I don’t see that happening because I don’t see customers asking for additional crude. But in the fourth quarter of 2006, additional demand might be possible.”
Al-Naimi said his country would increase production gradually by one-and-a-half million barrels per day over the next four years. “We are gradually moving our production capacity from 11 to twelve-and-a-half (million barrels per day) by 2009.”
Arab News, meanwhile, learned that an Indian company had invited Saudi Aramco to invest in the energy sector. Al-Naimi held talks last night with officials of Reliance company on prospects of investing in a $8 billion refinery and petrochemical project in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Naimi had earlier received offers from India to invest in three refineries: Bhatinda, Bina and Paradip. Two other Indian refineries to have Saudi investments are Kakinada and Barmer.
