"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit and the signing of a number of agreements and memorandums of understanding reflect a new era of strategic partnership between the two countries," said King Abdullah while addressing the weekly Cabinet meeting.
King Abdullah held talks with Singh at his palace in Riyadh on Sunday and honored the Indian premier by conferring on him the King Abdul Aziz Sash of the First Order. The Saudi-Indian summit talks covered major regional and international issues and ways of strengthening bilateral cooperation in different areas.
Monday's Cabinet meeting also took a series of decisions to stop the practice of writing bad checks. A Cabinet statement said those who issue such checks would be imprisoned and their names published in local daily newspapers.
The Cabinet authorized the Commission for Investigation and Public Prosecution to investigate crimes relating to checks and file criminal cases against people involved in the practice.
"Judicial authorities looking into such cases should give their verdicts within 30 days," the Cabinet said. It also authorized courts to punish those involved in check-related crimes, the Saudi Press Agency said.
The Cabinet asked Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior Prince Naif to enact a bylaw in this respect on the basis of Article 118 of the Commercial Papers Law, which has specified that people who commit such crimes are detained.
The Cabinet urged the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency to take necessary measures to regulate the issuance of objection letters and prevent banks from delaying the rejection of bouncing checks.
Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja said the Cabinet set up a ministerial committee to study prospects of activating legislation on making it necessary on people to produce residential addresses for matters relating to civil affairs, resident permits (iqama) and commercial registration laws.
According to the new plan, citizens, residents, companies and organizations should have residential addresses for all official correspondence and should inform authorities in case of change of address.
The committee comprises representatives from the ministries of interior, justice, commerce and industry, communications and information technology, and finance, as well as from the customs, Saudi Post and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency.
The Cabinet also denounced the Israeli forces for raiding the Al-Aqsa Mosque and clashing with Palestinian worshippers in Jerusalem on Sunday. It also condemned Israel's decision to include the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron and Bilal bin Rabah Mosque in Bethlehem among Israeli heritage sites.
Saudi Arabia also denounced Israel for carrying out digging work under the walls of occupied Jerusalem. "These Israeli practices are considered dangerous provocations that will arouse Muslim sentiments all over the world," the Cabinet said.
It urged the international community to stand firmly against these provocative practices and force Israel to stop its plan to forcibly occupy Palestinian land, ignoring the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and international community.
