Narendra Modi in Saudi Highlights: Several pacts inked as PM meets top leaders; Strategic Partnership Council set up

In a significant boost to the strategic ties between India and Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday signed the Strategic Partnership Council Agreement to coordinate on important issues. Modi, who is on a two-day visit to the Gulf Kingdom to attend the Future Investment Initiative here, held wide ranging talks with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and powerful Crown Prince Mohammed. After the delegation-level talks, the two sides signed the agreement to establish the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council to coordinate decisions regarding strategically important issues.

The council will be headed by Prime Minister Modi and Crown Prince Mohammed and meet every two years. Prime Minister Modi said with the signing of the agreement on the Strategic Partnership Council, the bilateral ties in various fields will be strengthened further. "India's relations with Saudi Arabia are one of the most important bilateral relationships in our extended neighbourhood," he told Arab News in an interview. PTI

Thanking Saudi Aramco for deciding to invest in West Coast Refinery Project - which will be the largest refinery of Asia, Modi said that by 2024, " we aim to invest US$ 100 Billion in refining, pipelines, gas terminals. "

"Under Skill India initiative, in the coming 3-4 years, 400 million people will be trained under different skills. This will provide assured skilled manpower to companies investing in India," adds Modi.

Emphasisng on fostering a new innotive culture in the next generation, Modi said technology has made a transformative impact and technologies like artificial intelligence, Genetics and nano-technology has now become part of our daily lives. He also said that
India aims to invest $1.5 trillion in infrastructure and that the  countries growth will be always in double digits.

At the Future investment initiative (FII), Modi invited global investors to benefit from our start-up ecosystem. He said, "today India has become world's 3rd largest start-up ecosystem. Even in tier-2&3 cities of India startups have come up. Our start-ups have started investing at global scale."

The aim of this forum is not only to discuss the economic system here but also to understand the rising trends of the world and look for ways aimed at global welfare. Our relations with Saudi Arabia is several years old. Our ancient relations has built a strong foundation for our strategic partnership, said Modi

Delivering the key note address in Saudi, Prime Minister Modi said that India and Saudi Arabia's historic ties have stregthented stratergic partnership and that he has come to this meeting with aspirations of Indians.  

The two countries are expected to sign several agreements in areas like defence industries collaboration, security cooperation, air services agreement, renewable energy, medicine products regulation, prevention of trafficking of narcotics among others in the evening after Prime Minister Modi meets Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud on Tuesday condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and agreed to step up bilateral security cooperation. Agreeing to step up bilateral security cooperation, the two leaders discussed cooperation in agriculture, oil and gas, maritime security, innovative technology, renewable energy, trade and investment between the two countries during their talks.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called on Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the two leaders exchanged views on working closely together to strengthen the bilateral ties.

PM @narendramodi meeting with H.M. King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. pic.twitter.com/tCpxanDjIS

— PIB India (@PIB_India) October 29, 2019

Prime Minister Modi who arrived in Riyadh late Monday night on a two-day visit, will deliver the keynote address under the title "What's next for India?'' at the forum. "I will speak about the growing trade and investment opportunities for the global investors in India as the country marches forward to a 5 trillion dollar economy by 2024," Modi said in his departure statement on Monday.

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday announced that 23 investment agreements totalling more than 15 billion dollar in value were signed on the first day of a three-day high-profile financial summit, being attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several other world leaders. "Totaling more than USD 15 billion in value, these agreements were exchanged by signatories in a dedicated ceremony held at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh. Coordinated under Invest Saudi," the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) said in a statement. Speaking at the forum, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of the Reliance Industries Limited, said, "The youth of India are our driving force, and the reason India will propel itself to be the 3rd largest economy in the world."

In an interview published in the Arab News newspaper on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Saudi Arabia is India's second-biggest supplier after Iraq. It sold 40.33 million tonnes of crude oil to India in 2018-19 fiscal, when the country had imported 207.3 million tonnes of oil. “From a purely buyer-seller relationship, we are now moving toward a closer strategic partnership that will include Saudi investments in downstream oil and gas projects,” he said. Modi said that stable oil prices are crucial for the growth of the global economy, and praised the Kingdom’s role as an important and reliable source of India’s energy requirements.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud.

#Riyadh Riyadh: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud pic.twitter.com/z4N8wBgipX

— ANI (@ANI) October 29, 2019

India has long-standing ties with Jordan and the Modi government has shown a marked preference for strengthening the relationship with the country. Modi had met King Abdullah for the first time on the sidelines of the UNGA in September 2015. This was followed by a visit by the then president Pranab Mukherjee to Jordan in October 2015, the first by an Indian head of state to the Middle East nation. India has been donating money for humanitarian assistance to the country.

Both Prime Minister Modi and the Jordanian King will speak at the financial forum, which will also host financiers, governments, and industry leaders who would discuss global trade and explore the trends, opportunities and challenges shaping the global investment landscape over the coming decades. Jordan is home to more than 10,000 Indians, who are employed in different sectors such as textile, construction and manufacturing, fertilizer companies, health sector, universities, IT, financial companies and multilateral organisation.

"Both leaders exchanged views on working closely together to strengthen our ties across sectors, specially in trade & investment, human resource development & people-to-people ties," Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

A good beginning to the day!

PM @narendramodi met His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan in Riyadh. Both leaders exchanged views on working closely together to strengthen our ties across sectors, specially in trade & investment, human resource development & people-to-people ties pic.twitter.com/Mkcrp0OiNr

— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) October 29, 2019

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met King Abdullah II of Jordan here and the two leaders exchanged views on working closely together to strengthen the bilateral ties in different sectors, specially in trade and investment. The two leaders met in the Saudi capital on the sidelines of the high-profile 'Future Investment Initiative', a key financial forum dubbed as 'Davos in the Desert'.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Saudi Arabia's Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadley, in Riyadh.

Moving together towards greener pastures for future generations!

PM @narendramodi had useful discussion with Minister of Environment, Water & Agriculture @AlfadleyA towards exploring newer areas of cooperation in the agriculture, food processing & water technologies. pic.twitter.com/pAzk1YdbOt

— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) October 29, 2019

Followed by a banquet lunch by His Majesty, the King, Prime Minister narendra Modi will have a bilateral meeting with the King, where the agreement on the Strategic Partneship Council will be signed. There will also be separate delegation level talks with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. Later in the afternoon, PM Modi  will be addressing the FII Plenary session. This will be followed by a banquet dinner hosted by the Crown Prince. Prime Minister will be leaving for Delhi the same night.

Underlining that the economic uncertainty is an offshoot of "unbalanced" multilateral trade systems, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asserted that the global economic outlook is strongly dependent on the path chartered by large developing countries like India and Saudi Arabia.

In a message to the Indian diaspora, Modi said India is proud of the place that "you have made for yourself in the Kingdom, and your hard work and commitment have helped to generate a lot of goodwill for the overall bilateral relationship". He expressed confidence that the Indian community in the Kingdom will continue to remain the binding force in the bilateral ties and will further contribute to the strengthening of the historic relationship between the two countries, which are based on people-to-people contacts over several decades.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the "hard work and commitment" of the Indian community in Saudi Arabia have helped to strenghten the bilateral relationship between the two nations. "Nearly 2.6 million Indians have made Saudi Arabia their second home, contributing to its growth and development. Many Indians also visit the Kingdom every year for the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimage, and for business purposes," the prime minister said in an interview published in the Arab News newspaper on Tuesday.

India's relations with Saudi Arabia have been on an upswing over the last few years. India's bilateral trade with Saudi Arabia was at USD 27.48 billion in 2017-18, making Saudi Arabia its fourth largest trading partner. Saudi Arabia last month said it was looking at investing USD 100 billion in India in areas of energy, refining, petrochemicals, infrastructure, agriculture, minerals and mining.

Modi said that stable oil prices are crucial for the growth of the global economy, and praised the Kingdom's role as an important and reliable source of India's energy requirements. "Saudi Aramco is participating in a major refinery and petrochemical project on India's west coast. We are also looking forward to the participation of Aramco in India's Strategic Petroleum Reserves," Modi said. Saudi Aramco, the most profitable company in the world, controls the world's second-largest proven crude reserves at more than 270 billion barrels. 

India imports around 18 per cent of its crude oil from the Kingdom, making it the second-largest source of crude oil for the country, Prime Minister Modi said in an interview published in the Arab News newspaper on Tuesday.

India and Saudi Arabia are moving from a purely buyer-seller relationship towards a closer strategic partnership that will include the resource-rich Kingdom's investments in downstream oil and gas projects in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said. Saudi Arabia is its second-biggest supplier after Iraq. It sold 40.33 million tonnes of crude oil to India in 2018-19 fiscal, when the country had imported 207.3 million tonnes of oil.

A number of major flagship initiatives, like Make in India, Digital India, Skill India, Swatchh Bharat, Smart Cities and Startup India, are offering a lot of opportunities to foreign investors, Modi added. "We welcome greater Saudi investments in our infrastructure projects, including the Smart Cities programme. We also welcome Saudi interest in investing in the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund," he said.

On economic growth, PM Modi said India has undertaken many reforms to create a business-friendly environment, and to ensure that it remained a major driver of global growth and stability. "Our reforms for ease of doing business and introducing investor-friendly initiatives have contributed to improving our position in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Index from 142 in 2014 to 63 in 2019," he said.

On the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Modi said a balanced approach is required to resolve the conflicts, while respecting the principles of sovereignty and non-interference in each other's internal matters. "India shares excellent bilateral relations with all the countries in the region, and a very large Indian diaspora, numbering over 8 million, resides in the region. A dialogue process that encourages the participation of all stakeholders is important to bring peace and security to this very important region," he said.

On the progress made since the singing of the Riyadh Declaration in 2010, Modi said, "Neighbourhood First" continues to be the guiding vision for his government's foreign policy. "India's relations with Saudi Arabia are one of the most important bilateral relationships in our extended neighbourhood," he said, adding that the high level visit from the two sides including his 2016 trip to the Gulf Kingdom consolidated this special relationship. "Our ties across various dimensions such as trade, investment, security and defence cooperation are robust and deep, and will only strengthen further" with the signing of the strategic partnership council, he said

"I am happy that our cooperation, particularly in the field of counterterrorism, security and strategic issues, is progressing very well. My national security adviser just visited Riyadh for a very productive visit," Modi said, referring to the visit of National security adviser Ajit Doval to the Gulf Kingdom. "We have a Joint Committee on Defence Cooperation that holds regular meetings. We have identified a number of areas of mutual interest and cooperation in the field of defence and security," he said.

India and Saudi Arabia share security concerns in their neighbourhood and their cooperation on security issues, including counter terrorism, are progressing well, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said. The prime minister, who arrived here on Monday night to attend a key financial conference and hold talks with the top Saudi leadership, made the remarks in an interview published in the Arab news on Tuesday. "I believe that Asian powers like India and Saudi Arabia share similar security concerns in their neighbourhood," Modi said, without referring to any country.

Both sides are also hoping to finalise Saudi Arabia’s investment in India’s National Infrastructure Investment Fund. Another key agreement both sides are eyeing to finalise is in the area of migration and protecting interests of Indian work force in the country. “We hope to launch the integration of our e-migration system and the Saudi system during the prime minister’s visit,” Tirumurti said. He said both sides are also expected to ink an MoU for cooperation in the area of renewable energy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Saudi crown prince Mohammad Bin Salman are also scheduled to sign an MoU for a joint venture between Indian Oil’s Middle east subsidiary – IOC Middle East FZE – and Saudi company Al Jeri for downstream cooperation and setting up a retail fuel business in the Gulf country. Saudi Arabia is a key pillar of India’s energy security, being a source of over 17 per cent of crude oil and 32 per cent of LPG requirements of India.

India and Saudi Arabia will also finalise and move ahead on the ambitious west coast refinery project in Raigarh, Maharashtra, which will involve investments from Saudi oil giant Aramco, UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and Indian public sector oil firms.

The leaders will also discuss enhancing defence and security cooperation. The first naval exercise between the two nations is tentatively lined up for December 2019 or January 2020. On the issue of cross-border terrorism, Tirumurti said both India and Saudi Arabia have concerns which reflected in the joint statement issued after Crown Prince Salman’s visit here in February.

During Modi’s visit, the major pacts to be signed will include an MoU to roll out the RuPay card – India’s digital payment system – and one on bringing coordination on e-migration systems between the two countries.

The Prime Minister will also deliver the keynote address at the third edition of Saudi Arabia’s annual investment forum, the Future Investment Initiative.

In a bid for strategic depth and focus to their growing relationship, India and Saudi Arabia will sign an agreement on establishing the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Riyadh today. The council will be headed by Modi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Read More