RIYADH: Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee arrived here on Friday to attend the 8th Session of the Indo-Saudi Joint Commission that is to be held at the Conference Palace in Riyadh on Saturday.
Among those who received the visiting minister was Indian Ambassador M.O.H. Farook, Deputy Chief of the Mission Rajeev Shahare, and Saudi Ambassador in New Delhi Faisal Al-Trad.
The Indian delegation will be led by Mukherjee while the Saudi side will be headed by Commerce and Industry Minister Abdullah bin Ahmad Zainal Alireza.
In addition to the official delegation, more than 50 Indian businessmen will be attending the joint commission. The follow-up to the historic Delhi Declaration, which was signed during Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah’s visit to India in January 2006, will be an important agenda item for discussion.
“So far, the Indo-Saudi Joint Commission, which was set up in 1983, has held seven meetings and this will be the 8th meeting. It is a happy coincidence that Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had also led the Indian side in its first meeting,” said Shahare.
An advanced team of the Indian governmental delegation arrived here two days prior to the joint commission to discuss issues concerning economy, education, labor, visas and community welfare, he said.
A number of meaningful business activities have been arranged on the sidelines of the joint commission meeting: Textile Exhibition and Buyer-Seller-Meet by the Synthetic Rayon and Textile Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC) at Riyadh Palace; Exhibition of Indian business catalogs India Catex 2009; and meetings between Indian businessmen and their Saudi counterparts.
During his visit, Mukherjee is slated to hold discussions with his counterpart Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf and Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal on matters of mutual interest.
