India made a strong pitch for participating in exploration of oil and gas on Saturday in Saudi Arabia whose King called New Delhi as the "dearest friend"
RIYADH: India made a strong pitch for participating in exploration of oil and gas on Saturday in Saudi Arabia whose King called New Delhi as the "dearest friend" with whom he wants relations to grow, including in the field of energy.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee met Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz within a few hours after his arrival to the desert state during when he sought transformation of bilateral ties with Saudi Arabia from buyer-seller to one of
partnership. Mukherjee is the first Indian Foreign Minister to visit Saudi Arabia in seven years.
The King appeared positive to this suggestion, officials said after the 40-minute meeting during which the two sides also deliberated on a number of other issues including bilateral investment opportunities and Middle East situation.
"I requested that the relationship be transformed from buyer-seller level... We want to participate in exploration, exploitation and development of gas-based and petrochemical-based industry in Saudi Arabia," Mukherjee said after the meeting.
Mukherjee, who is on a two-day visit, said Indian companies would be interested in investing in Saudi Arabia in the energy field. He noted that India procures 26 million tonnes of crude oil from Saudi Arabia every year, accounting for one-fourth of its imports of the commodity.
Inviting Saudi investments, Mukherjee said there was a huge scope as Indian economy is growing at over 8 per cent and could absorb between 500 and 600 billion dollars over the next six years.
Describing his discussions with the King as "good" and "substantial", the External Affairs Minister said the two sides talked about the need to improve further the bilateral ties in economic, political and cultural fields.
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