PM Modi, Saudi Crown Prince hold bilateral talks

New Delhi [India]: Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held a bilateral meeting in New Delhi.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and others were present in the meeting.

The Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, who arrived here on a three-day State visit to India attended the G20 Summit in the national capital over the weekend.

The two leaders will also co-chair the First Leaders’ Meeting of the Strategic Partnership Council. PM Modi and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince will review the progress made under the two Ministerial Committees of the Strategic Partnership Council i.e. the Committee on Political, Security, Social and Cultural Cooperation and the Committee on Economy and Investments Cooperation, according to a release from the Ministry of External Affairs.

PM Modi and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince will discuss all aspects of bilateral relations, including political, security, defence, trade and economic, cultural and people-to-people ties. Both the leaders will also discuss the regional and international issues of mutual interest.

The Saudi Crown Prince is accompanied by a high-level delegation, including Ministers and senior officials.

Prior to his meeting with PM Modi, the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince received a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan PM Modi and President Droupadi Murmu welcomed the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The Saudi Crown Prince then inspected a combined defence services Guard of Honour. In a brief statement, Mohammed bin Salman congratulated India for a successful G20 presidency.

Speaking to reporters, he said, “Well done India, a lot of announcements made that will benefit both our countries, the G20 countries and the whole world. So I want to say to India well done, and we will work to create a future for both countries.”

Later in the day, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince is scheduled to call on President Droupadi Murmu.

At the G20 Leaders’ Summit on Saturday, India, the United States, Saudi Arabia and the European Union announced a historic agreement to launch a mega India-Middle East-Europe shipping and railway connectivity corridor.

This is a historic and first-of-its-kind initiative on cooperation on connectivity and infrastructure involving India, UAE, Saudi Arabia, EU, France, Italy, Germany and the US.

Speaking at the G20 Summit, Prince Mohammed bin Salman said, “… We look forward to the integration of the initiative and the Economic Corridor project which is announced in this meeting. I would like to thank those who worked with us to reach this founding step to establish this important economic corridor…”

PM Narendra Modi said the mega-deal would give a sustainable direction to connectivity and sustainability across the world. Earlier, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince visited India on a State visit in February 2019 and the current visit will be his second State visit to the country.

“India and Saudi Arabia have historically close and friendly relations with extensive people-to-people contacts. The trade between both countries reached all-time high of USD 52.75 billion in FY 2022-23, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in an earlier press release.

India is Saudi Arabia’s second-largest trading partner whereas Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth-largest trading partner. Both countries also have a strong partnership in the area of energy, according to an MEA statement released earlier.

Saudi Arabia also hosted a three-day event in conjunction with the G20 Leader’s Summit to provide an immersive and interactive experience of the Kingdom’s leading projects in various fields.

The event titled ‘Media Oasis’ was organized on September 9 and will conclude on September 11 in New Delhi. The event aims to provide an immersive experience of Saudi Arabia’s leading projects in the sectors of tourism, entertainment, technology, culture and sports. The overarching theme of the exhibit is ‘Vision 2030’, an initiative by Saudi Arabia aimed towards the diversification of the country economically, socially, and culturally.