On the occasion of the 66th Republic Day of India, I extend my best wishes to all my fellow Indian citizens residing in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia. 

At the outset, I wish to express my deep sense of grief on the sad demise of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah (May Allah have mercy on him) and offer my sincere condolences to the members of the royal family and the great people of Saudi Arabia.

India and the Arabian peninsula have historic relations dating back to several millennia.

The realms of relations include trade, people to people contact and culture. 

In the recent past, the level of bilateral engagements between India and Saudi Arabia has reached new heights.

The landmark visit of the late King Abdullah (May Allah have mercy on him) to India in January 2006 and the visit of our former Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, to Riyadh in 2010 gave a new thrust to our bilateral engagements. 

The Delhi declaration issued during the visit of the late King (May Allah have mercy on him) to India provided the foundation and roadmap to elevate the level of our bilateral relations at the political and economic level.

The Riyadh declaration issued during the visit of Minister Manmohan Singh, heralded a new era of strategic partnership between the two countries.

There has been a constant exchange of high level visits between the two countries.

The then Crown Prince and now Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman, visited India in February 2014 and met with the Indian leadership.

During the visit, an MoU on defense cooperation was signed. Indian ministers of defense, external affairs, overseas Indian affairs and finance have visited Saudi Arabia in recent times.

King Salman also met our Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Brisbane in November 2014 and the King conveyed that Saudi Arabia is ready to cooperate with India in all sectors.

Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth largest trading partner. The growth registered in bilateral trade has been impressive and the bilateral trade between India and Saudi Arabia for the year 2013-14 stood at $48.75 billion. 

Today, Saudi Arabia is the largest supplier of crude oil to India, meeting around one-fifth of our requirements. 

Indian investments in Saudi Arabia have shown a remarkable increase and cover a wide range of sectors, including information and technology, management and consultancy services, construction projects, telecommunication and pharmaceuticals.

Indian IT majors like Wipro and TCS are implementing key projects in the Kingdom.

There are also numerous Saudi-India joint ventures and Saudi companies operating in India in sectors like steel, paper, chemicals, computer software, industrial production, machinery and cement. 

Sectors like infrastructure and real estate are gaining popularity among Saudi investors. 

The consulate recently launched the “Make In India” campaign to publicize the sectors suitable for Saudi investments in India and this campaign has been very well received by Saudi businessmen. 

On this occasion, I would like to put on record our sincere appreciation to the late King Abdullah (May Allah have mercy on him) as well as the present Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman for a very successful Haj 2014.

I also wish to extend my thanks and felicitations to the Ministry of Haj, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and all other agencies for organizing and facilitating such a wonderful Haj 2014.

More than 136,000 pilgrims from India performed Haj in a smooth and comfortable manner.

The consulate General of India made elaborate arrangements to provide the best possible services to the Indian pilgrims. 

The consulate has been keen on providing quality consular services to all Indian citizens living within its jurisdiction and also to all Saudi nationals visiting the consulate.

In 2014, the consulate has provided more than 125,000 consular services.

India has a very large community in the Kingdom and their welfare is one of our main priorities.

Members of the Indian community are known for their hard-working and law-abiding nature and for being professionally competent.

While the Indian community has enormously benefitted from the opportunities available in the Kingdom, it has also substantially contributed to the development witnessed in the Kingdom.

The members of the Indian community are the brand ambassadors of India.

I would thank all of them for helping us in strengthening the bonds between India and Saudi Arabia.

I’m confident that the Indian community would continue to be the most preferred expatriate community in the Kingdom.

I conclude by expressing my confidence that the India-Saudi Arabia relations will grow from strength to strength and contribute toward world peace and stability under the able and wise leadership of King Salman.

Jai Hind.

—

B.S. Mubarak

Consul General of India