PM Modi to embark on a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia from April 22
New Delhi, April 19
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday at the invitation of the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammed bin Salman. This will be Prime Minister Modi’s third visit to the Kingdom after his previous visits in 2016 and 2019. The visit follows the State Visit of Prince Salman to New Delhi in September 2023 to attend the G20 Summit and co-chair the first meeting of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council.
Briefing media in New Delhi this evening, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said, the visit is important on account of the obvious significance of Saudi Arabia as a strategic partner for India. He said, Saudi Arabia hosts a very large Indian expatriate community, possibly the second-largest expatriate community of its kind anywhere in the world.
Mr Misri said, Saudi Arabia is a leading voice in the Islamic world and is increasingly playing an important role in regional developments. He said, the visit provides an opportunity to build on the already strong relations with this strategic partner. The Prime Minister and the Crown Prince share a very close personal relationship with a lot of warmth and respect for each other, and the bilateral relationship has gained a lot from strategic guidance at the topmost level.
Earlier today, Ministry of External Affairs in a statement said, India and Saudi Arabia share close and friendly ties with a long history of socio-cultural and trade contacts. As strategic partners, the two countries share strong bilateral relations across various areas including political, defence, security, trade, investment, energy, technology, health, education, culture and people-to-people ties.
India’s relations with the Kingdom have evolved into a stronger and enduring partnership in the past decade, expanding into many strategic domains, with growing investment commitments, broadening of defence cooperation and intensive high-level exchanges across sectors.
MEA said, the visit of Prime Minister Modi reflects the importance India attaches to its bilateral relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It will provide an opportunity to further deepen and strengthen the multi-faceted partnership, as well as to exchange views on various regional and international issues of mutual interest.