Saudi Arabian prince to visit India

Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud will be on a two-day visit to India on February 19 and 20. "India and Saudi Arabia have enjoyed close and friendly relations anchored in mutually beneficial partnership and extensive people to people contacts," the Ministry of External Affairs said.

Saudi Arabia is India's fourth largest trading partner after China, US and Japan. India imports 17 per cent of its crude oil requirement from the kingdom. India has raised the issue of oil prices with Riyadh several times. Saudi Arabian energy minister Khalid al-Falih had also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been "vocal" about the increase in oil prices. Al-Falid had assured New Delhi of affordable prices.

Bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $27.48 billion in FY 2017-18. There are 2.7 million Indians in Saudi Arabia. Haj pilgrimage is also an important component of bilateral relations. In 2018, Riyadh increased the Indian Haj quota by 5,000, enabling 1,75,025 Indians to perform Haj last year.