Login With Google
India- Saudi Arabia
Visiting Saudi Arabia for three days is External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's first trip as such.
During this trip, he co-chaired the first ministerial gathering of the Committee on Political, Security, Social, and Cultural Cooperation with his Saudi Arabian counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud (PSSC).
Under the auspices of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council, PSSC was founded.
He also had a meeting with Nayef, the secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
An MoU on the process of consultations between India and the regional group of six nations was signed by the two leaders.
Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates make up the GCC, a regional association.
In June of this year, the now-suspended BJP spokesperson's comments on the Prophet damaged India's relations with the GCC.
As a result of their long-standing economic and sociocultural links, India and Saudi Arabia have amicable and cordial relations.
The two countries' diplomatic connections were established in 1947.
The "Delhi Declaration" was formally signed as a result of King Abdullah's historic trip to India in January 2006.
The bilateral relationship gained new vigour as a result of the Delhi Declaration.
The bilateral relationship was upgraded to a Strategic Partnership by the signing of the "Riyadh Declaration" in 2010.
The atmosphere of improved cooperation between the two countries was evident during PM Modi's visit to Riyadh in April 2016.
King Salman presented PM Modi with the highest civilian accolade bestowed by the Kingdom during this visit.
This momentum was furthered by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman's visit to India in February 2019.
It was revealed that the Kingdom would invest over $100 billion in India during the visit.
In the areas of investment, tourism, housing, and the sharing of audio-visual programmes, six MoUs or Agreements were inked.
In October 2019, PM Modi paid a second visit to Riyadh and sealed the Strategic Partnership Council (SPC) Agreement.
A high-level council called SPC was created to direct relations between India and Saudi Arabia.
India's fourth-largest trading partner is Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia supplies more than 18% of India's imports of crude oil.
Bilateral trade was at US$29.28 billion in FY22 (Apr-Dec).
India's exports to Saudi Arabia during this time period totaled US$6.63 billion, while its imports from Saudi Arabia totaled US$22.65 billion.
There are 745 Indian companies registered in Saudi Arabia with investments totaling about US$2 billion (October, 2021).
As of March 2021, Saudi Arabia had invested $3.13 billion in India.
The US$44 billion "West Coast Refinery & Petrochemicals Project" in Maharashtra, which is being jointly built by Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, and an Indian consortium, is one of the major investments that have been proposed.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, and Indian Oil Corporation are the companies that make up the Indian consortium.
Al-Fanar, a Saudi company, owns a major interest in many 600MW wind power projects in India.In February 2018, India took part as the "Guest of Honor" at the prestigious 32nd Janadriyah National Festival of Heritage and Culture of Saudi Arabia.
India will celebrate its 75th anniversary of independence in 2021–2022, known as "Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav." Additionally, the anniversary of the establishing of diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and India is being commemorated at the same time.
The largest expat population is the roughly 2.2 million-strong Indian community.
The two parties said in October 2019 that the integration of the e-Thawtheeq system in the Kingdom and the e-Migrate system in India will speed up worker migration.
The Hajj quota for India was doubled in February 2019, allowing 2,00000 Indians to perform the Hajj in August.
Both countries have cooperated throughout the pandemic, exchanging national insights and helping to maintain the flow of supplies like food and medicine.
India gave the Kingdom 4.5 million COVISHIELD vaccinations in two different consignments in the months of February and March 2021.
However, during the second wave, liquid oxygen in particular was given to India by Saudi Arabia as COVID relief material.
An air bubble agreement has been in effect for air travel between the two nations from January 1st, 2022.
Source: The Indian Express