RIYADH, 17 April 2008 — The upcoming visit by Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will deepen the strategic partnership to reach consensus on a number of shared issues to take the bilateral friendship to new heights in order to create a mutually beneficial climate of cooperation, according to Rajeev Shahare, deputy chief of mission at the Indian Embassy, who spoke to the media yesterday about the state visit.
“This is going to be the first high-level Indian visit to the Kingdom after the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah’s state visit to India in 2006,” Shahare said, describing it as an exclusive visit focused on Saudi-India relations.
He added that the visit is in continuation of the high-level contact and exchanges between the two countries to further strengthen the bilateral ties. Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal visited India in February this year.
Mukherjee was set to go to Riyadh in April 2008, but met with an accident a day before his scheduled departure. Since then, the visit was planned a couple of times, but no dates that suited both sides could be arranged.
Mukherjee’s visit is likely to set the stage for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Saudi Arabia later this year.
During this visit, Mukherjee will meet King Abdullah, Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, Riyadh Governor Prince Salman and his counterpart, Saud Al-Faisal, and top functionaries of the Saudi government and discuss with them a whole swathe of bilateral, regional and global issues, including trade and investment and energy security.
