5 MoUs inked; Kingdom’s joining of International Solar Alliance announced

Terrorism a common concern; KSA ready to share intelligence with India

Saudi Gazette report

NEW DELHI — India rolled out the red carpet for Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, who said at a grand welcome ceremony at President House on Wednesday that the two countries were in each other’s “DNA”.

“Today we want to be sure this relationship is maintained and improved for the sake of both countries,” the crown prince said after full ceremonial welcome in Delhi.

“I am sure we can create good things for Saudi Arabia and India,” he said after inspecting a guard of honor.

Later addressing a joint press conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House, Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman said he saw investment opportunities of more than $100 billion in India over the next two years as the two countries signed five agreements and MoUs on investment in infrastructure, housing sector and tourism.

The Crown Prince said his country had invested $44 billion since 2016 in India when PM Modi visited the Kingdom, and had benefitted from it.

“Today we expect the opportunities we are targeting in India in various fields to exceed $100 billion in the coming two years... we want to work with you, Mr Prime Minister, to ensure these investments are made and to ensure useful returns for both countries.”

“We want to diversify in other areas such as petrochemicals and storage,” he said.

“We want to make the relations between India and Saudi Arabia beneficial for both countries,” he said.

The Crown Prince said Saudi Arabia had taken a leaf out of India’s book and had invested in the IT sector after PM Modi’s 2016 visit to Riyadh.

“We know India is strong in the IT sector and we have invested a lot in Saudi Arabia in the IT sector and have benefitted from it,” he said.

The Crown Prince said terrorism was a common concern and Saudi Arabia was ready to share intelligence with India to tackle it.

“We face similar challenges, chief among them extremism and terrorism ... and we reaffirm to India that we are ready to work in the intelligence and political arenas to coordinate our efforts...” the Crown Prince said.