After the conclusion of the two-day G20 Summit in Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to meet Saudi Arabian Prime Minister and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud at the Hyderabad House in the national capital on Monday.
The Saudi Crown Prince arrived in Delhi on a three-day visit and stayed back after the G20 Summit for the bilateral meeting. He is also likely to co-chair the first leaders’ meeting of the Strategic Partnership Council with PM Modi.
Ahead of the meeting, the Saudi Crown Prince attended a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan. He also met President Droupadi Murmu, PM Modi and other ministers during the event. Mohammed bin Salman is anticipated to sign the minutes of the first meeting of the India-Saudi Strategic Partnership Council at the Hyderabad House around noon after his meeting with the Prime Minister.
Agenda of the meeting
The two leaders will review the progress made under the two Ministerial Committees of the Strategic Partnership Council i.e.the Committee on Political, Security, Social and Cultural Cooperation and the Committee on Economy and Investments Cooperation, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement. They will discuss all aspects of bilateral relations, including political, security, defence, trade and economic, cultural and people-to-people ties. Both the leaders will also discuss the regional and international issues of mutual interest, the statement said.
After concluding all these, the Saudi Arabian PM will meet President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhawan around 6:30 pm before departing from New Delhi around 8:30 pm.
Saudi Crown Prince’s 2nd state visit to India
The Saudi Crown Prince had earlier come to India on a state visit in February 2019 and this is his second state visit. He is accompanied by a high-level delegation, including ministers and senior officials. This visit follows the visit of Prime Minister Modi to Saudi Arabia in October 2019 during which the two countries established the Strategic Partnership Council, a bilateral mechanism.
India Saudi-Arabia relations
It should be mentioned here that India and Saudi Arabia have historically close and friendly relations with extensive people-to-people contacts. The trade between both countries reached an all-time high of USD 52.75 billion in 2022-23. India is Saudi Arabia’s second-largest trading partner whereas Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth-largest trading partner. Both countries also have a strong partnership in the area of energy.
(With inputs from agencies)
