India and Saudi Arabia enjoy multifaceted relations reflecting the centuries old economic and socio-cultural ties. The establishment of diplomatic relations in 1947 was followed by high-level visits from both sides. King Saud visited India in 1955 and the first Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru visited the Kingdom in 1956. The visit of the Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi to Saudi Arabia in 1982 further boosted the bilateral relations.
In recent times, the historic visit of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to India in 2006 resulted in signing of ‘Delhi Declaration’ imparting a fresh momentum to the bilateral relationship. The visit provided the roadmap for cooperation in all fields of mutual interest. The visit of Indian Prime Minister to Saudi Arabia and signing of Riyadh Declaration in 2010 heralded a new ‘era of Strategic Partnership’ focusing political, economic, security and defense areas. Since then the two countries have made significant progress in each of these areas.
The two countries have maintained regular exchange of bilateral visits at all levels in the recent years. Crown Prince Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, of Saudi Arabia visited India from Feb. 26-28, 2014 and met with the Indian leadership. The Saudi Labor Minister Adel Fakeih visited India from Jan. 1-4, 2014 for signing of the Agreement on Labor Cooperation for Domestic Service Workers Recruitment.
From the Indian side, Finance Minister visited Saudi Arabia from Jan. 27-28, 2014 for the 10th Joint Commission Meeting and met with Crown Prince Salman; Deputy Crown Prince Muqrin, Second Deputy Prime Minister, and Commerce & Industry Minister Dr. Tawfiq Al Rabiah. The then Minister of State (External Affairs) visited Kingdom in April, 2014 and met with Saudi Haj Minister Dr. Bandar Bin Hajjar and discussed issues pertaining to Indian Haj pilgrims.
India-Saudi Arabia economic and commercial relations have been growing steadily in the recent years. Saudi Arabia is the 4th largest trade partner of India and the bilateral trade reached $48.75 billion in 2013-14 from $43.78 in 2012-13 representing a growth of 11.35%. The import of crude oil by India forms a major component of bilateral trade with Saudi Arabia being India’s largest supplier of crude oil, accounting for almost 19% of its total oil requirements. Saudi Arabia is the 6th largest market in the world for Indian exports and is destination of more than 3.91% of India’s global exports.
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia is the source of 8.12% of India’s global imports. For Saudi Arabia, India is the 5th largest market for its exports, accounting for 8.3% of its global exports. In terms of imports by Saudi Arabia, India ranks 7th and is source of around 3.4% of Saudi Arabia’s total imports. The trade data analysis indicates a trend towards diversification of trade basket.
Indian companies have been expanding their footprint in the Kingdom and many of them have won major projects in the Kingdom. Recently, Essar Projects has bagged a project for Saudi Aramco worth $54 million. Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) have bagged prestigious projects in the Kingdom in the last one year. In November 2013, SABIC announced the launching of its R&D Center in Bengaluru with an investment of over $100 million. According to Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), 426 licenses were issued to Indian companies for joint ventures/100% owned entities till 2010, which are expected to bring total investment of $1.6 billion in Saudi Arabia. However, given the depth and scale of the economies of the two countries, there exists vast untapped potential for expanding business opportunities.
The Saudi India Business Network (SIBN), which functions under the Embassy of India, has been actively engaged in promoting business-to-business interactions and facilitating bilateral trade and investments. It has a dedicated website which provides useful information about Saudi-India bilateral economic and commercial relations. It has been organizing sector-specific events usually coinciding with incoming visit of Indian business/trade delegation and provide a platform for interaction between the business communities of the two countries.
The two sides have been witnessing an increased people-to-people contacts. The Ministry of Tourism, government of India, in collaboration with the Embassy of India, Riyadh, have been organizing ‘Road Shows’ in different parts of the Kingdom. More number of Saudi nationals are visiting India for tourism purposes especially to avail the benefits offered by the medical tourism, which combines the concept of physical wellbeing with opportunity to visit different parts of India. The vast pool of highly qualified Indian doctors combined with cost effective and prompt treatment has been attracting many people from all over the world including Saudi Arabia. Many Saudi students are looking at India as a destination to learn about high-end technologies including Information Technology, Bio-technology, etc.
The 2.5 million plus Indian community in Saudi Arabia is the ‘most preferred community’ due to their expertise, sense of discipline, law abiding and peace loving nature. The contributions made by Indian community towards the development of Saudi Arabia are well acknowledged. The Haj and Umrah pilgrimage is another important aspect of India-Saudi Arabia bilateral relations. The government of India has appreciated the efforts on part of the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to put in place excellent arrangements to ensure comfortable and hassle-free Haj and Umrah experience. During Haj 2013, more than 135,000 Indians visited the Kingdom to perform Haj and even more Indians performed Umrah. — SG
