Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud on Monday held extensive talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi after having participated in the G20 Leaders’ summit in New Delhi. He discussed increasing bilateral trade and defence ties. Both leaders also co-chaired the first meeting of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council (SPC).
During the meeting, PM Modi highlighted the importance of the India-Saudi Arabia partnership, which he said is “crucial for stability and welfare of the region and the world.”
“We are adding new dimension to our ties in tune with changing times,” the PM added.
President Droupadi Murmu hosted a banquet in the honour of Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
President Murmu said that India and Saudi Arabia’s shared cultural experiences, economic synergies and common commitment towards a peaceful and sustainable world that makes them natural partners.
Hailing a “new chapter in the India and Saudi Arabia ties”, PM Modi welcomed the Saudi Crown Prince at the Hyderabad House for the bilateral. Two leaders held extensive talks and a joint statement was released after the talks.
Regarding the bilateral meeting, PM Modi tweeted, “His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and I had very productive talks. We reviewed our trade ties and are confident that the commercial linkages between our nations will grow even further in the times to come. The scope for cooperation in grid connectivity, renewable energy, food security, semiconductors and supply chains is immense”.
PM Modi and Crown Prince & PM of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammed bin Salman co-chaired the first Leaders’ Meeting of the India- Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council (SPC). Agenda included a broad range of areas of bilateral cooperation including energy security, trade and investment, defence and security, healthcare, food security, culture and community welfare issues among others.
The India – Saudi Strategic Partnership Council (SPC) was set up with the signing of an Agreement by both leaders in October 2019. In this regard, the two leaders reviewed the work done under the framework of the Strategic Partnership Council and expressed satisfaction at the outcomes of the works of the two Ministerial Committees.
SPC was formed in 2019 during PM Modi’s visit to Riyadh. It has two committees: Committee on Political-Security-Social & Cultural Cooperation and Committee on Economy and Investment. The talks between both leaders today follow the ministerial meetings of the two committees held in September 2022 in Riyadh.
Both sides expressed satisfaction that the bilateral relations have expanded and deepened across different fields such as political, trade, investment, energy, defence, security, social, cultural and people-to-people ties.
The two sides highlighted the importance of energy cooperation as an important pillar of the strategic partnership between the two countries. The two nations look forward to boost joint cooperation in the fields of electricity and grid interconnection between the two countries, in addition to cooperating in the field of hydrogen and its derivatives.
Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived in Delhi on Saturday for a three-day visit, combining the G20 Summit attendance with a state visit.
