Saudi Arabia crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud who is on an India visit has said India, Saudi ties are in DNA and lauded the role played by Indians in building the west Asian country. Speaking after the ceremonial reception at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhawan he said, "Relationship between India and Arabia peninsula, which Saudi Arabia represent, about 80%, goes back thousands of year of history. Even before history is written. The relationship between India and Arabian peninsula is in our DNA."
Saudi Arabia crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud who is on an India visit has said India, Saudi ties are in DNA and lauded the role played by Indians in building the west Asian country. Speaking after the ceremonial reception at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhawan he said, "Relationship between India and Arabia peninsula, which Saudi Arabia represent, about 80%, goes back thousands of year of history. Even before history is written. The relationship between India and Arabian peninsula is in our DNA."
Standing alongside President Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi he added, "Today we want to be sure this relation is maintained and improved for the sake of both countries. With the leadership of President and PM I am are sure we can create good things for India and Saudi Arabia."
Also read: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in India - latest updates
Highlighting the role of the Indian diaspora in building the country, the crown prince said, "Since we remember ourselves, Indian people are friends and part of building Saudi Arabia in the past 70 years. A lot of Saudis work and develop a lot of things in India for hundreds of years."
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud who was accorded ceremonial reception at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhawan has said,
He will be meeting PM Modi at Hyderabad House for bilateral talks. This will be the 2nd meeting between the Indian Prime minister and Saudi Prince in the last 3 months. The last met on the sidelines of G20 summit in Argentina on 30th November. Both sides are expected to sign Five MoUs/ Agreements in areas of investment, tourism, housing and information & broadcasting.
The Saudi Arabia's crown Mohammed bin Salman, known famously by his initials MBS arrived in India on Tuesday and was received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who broke the protocol to receive him.
Indian prime minister has in the past broken protocol for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2018), Jordan's King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein(2018), United Arab Emirates’ Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (2017) and Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina (2015).
The long shadow of the Pulwama terror attack, the deadliest in India in over 2 decades, will be dominating the talks with a focus on making sure Pakistan acts on terror infrastructure it has been supporting on its territory. New Delhi will be calling on Riyadh to mount pressure on its traditional ally Pakistan. Pakistan based terror group Jaish e Mohammad claimed responsibility for the attack. Saudi Arabia has strongly condemned the terrorist attack on Indian security forces in Pulwama on 14 February.
MBS comes to India, a day after his 2-day visit to Pakistan. It is interesting to note that the Saudi prince went back to Riyadh after his Pakistan visit, and came back again to New Delhi, a development which many will see de-hyphenation by Saudi Arabia between Pakistan and India and something which New Delhi will prefer in the aftermath of Pulwama terror attack.
During Crown Prince's Pakistan visit, he announced $ 20 billion dollar investment. Reacting to the development, sources in Delhi said, "When they invest in India, they invest in a robust economy, in Pakistan they bailout"
India is one of the eight strategic partners of Saudi Arabia with which the West Asian country intends to deepen partnership in areas of political, security, trade and investment and culture. Both countries are finalizing the setting up of ‘Strategic Partnership Council’ at the Ministerial level. Bilateral trade between both the countries stood at US$ 27.48 billion in the financial year 2017-18. Saudi Arabia is India's 4th largest trading partner with New Delhi get 17% of its oil imports from the country. Oil prices are something that India has been consistently raising with Saudi Arabia, an OPEC country. Saudi ARAMCO along with ADNOC of UAE in 2018 agreed to partner in Ratnagiri Refinery.
Saudi Arabia will soon be joining the International Solar Alliance initiative. The country hosts 2.7 million strong Indian community, one of the largest in west Asia, sending remittance of over US$ 11 billion annually. Last year, Saudi Arabia increased the Indian Haj quota by 5,000, enabling 1,75,025 Indians to undertake the pilgrimage last year. India is also in touch with the west Asian country when it comes to Afghan Peace process.
Prime Minister Modi had visited Riyadh in April 2016. Saudi Arabia's King Salman had honoured him then with the "Sash of King Abdulaziz", the highest civilian decoration awarded by the West Asian country.
Crown Prince Salman is Saudi Arabia's second-most important person after the king and his designated successor. Saudi Arabia of course in one of the world's largest oil producers.
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