RIYADH — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be paying an official visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on April 2-3 Aprilat the invitation of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman. This is the highest-level visit from India to Saudi Arabia after the visit of the then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to Riyadh in 2010.
During the visit, Prime Minister Modi will hold discussions with King Salman on bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest.
India and Saudi Arabia share friendly relations based on close people-to-people contacts. The ‘Strategic Partnership’ established through Riyadh Declaration in 2010 envisions a deeper engagement in political, economic, security and defense areas. In recent years, there has been significant progress in bilateral cooperation in such key areas of mutual interest.
Saudi Arabia has become India’s fourth largest partner with bilateral trade exceeding $39 billion in 2014-15. Saudi Arabia is also India’s largest crude oil supplier accounting for about one-fifth of our total imports.
Indians form the largest expatriate community in Saudi Arabia and their contribution in the progress and development of their host country is well recognized. There are over 2.96 million Indian nationals presently working in Saudi Arabia. — SG
