More than fifty agreements were signed between Saudi Arabia and India during Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to New Delhi, covering the fields of information technology, communications, entrepreneurship, chemicals, energy, and advanced industries.
The volume of bilateral trade between the two countries reached more than $52 billion in 2022, with a growth rate of more than 23 percent, making India the Kingdom’s second-largest trading partner and the Kingdom the fourth-largest trading partner of India. The two sides agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the field of trade remedies.
The Indian community in Saudi Arabia, which numbers 3.6 million residents, is also a major source of foreign remittances to India, according to SPA in a special report issued on the occasion of the Saudi-Indian Investment Forum.
During the visit, the Saudi crown prince said after meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the two countries would make an effort to achieve the “economic corridor” on the ground.
On the sidelines of the G20 meetings, Saudi Arabia, India, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and European Union countries signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a new economic corridor linking India, the Middle East and Europe.
Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the project will contribute to “developing and rehabilitating infrastructure that includes railways, connecting ports, increasing the passage of goods and services, enhancing trade exchange between the concerned countries, laying pipelines for the export and import of electricity and hydrogen to enhance the security of global energy supply, in addition to data transmission cables through a highly efficient cross-border network.”
At the end of the visit, the two sides stressed the importance of continuing joint work to promote and diversify bilateral trade, and expressed their support for the speedy resumption of negotiations on the India-GCC Free Trade Agreement.
They also stressed the need to ensure the security of energy supplies in global markets and agreed on the importance of strengthening their cooperation to ensure the security and safety of waterways and freedom of navigation.
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A joint statement issued at the end of Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit pointed out that the two sides stressed the importance of cooperation between them in the field of energy as one of the most important pillars of the strategic partnership between the two countries, and stressed the importance of supporting the stability of global oil markets, encouraging dialogue and cooperation between producing and consuming countries, and ensuring the security of energy supplies in global markets. The Saudi side underlined the Kingdom’s commitment to being a reliable partner and exporter of crude oil supplies to India.
On climate change issues, the two sides reaffirmed the importance of adhering to the principles of the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement. The Indian side welcomed the Kingdom’s pioneering efforts in dealing with the challenges of climate change at the regional and international levels, including the “Green Saudi Arabia” and “Green Middle East” initiatives through the application of the circular carbon economy approach launched by the Kingdom and endorsed by the leaders of the G20 countries, as a holistic and balanced approach to managing emissions with various available clean technologies, initiatives to reduce land degradation, restore vegetation cover, and preserve biodiversity. The Kingdom also welcomed India’s efforts in dealing with climate change through the initiatives of the International Solar Alliance, One Sun, One World, One Network, the Rapid Disaster Recovery Infrastructure Alliance (CDRI) and the Lifestyle for the Environment (LiFE).
The two sides noted that Saudi Arabia and the Republic of India are among the world’s largest economies with strong growth.
In this context, the Indian side appreciated the progress made by the Kingdom within the framework of Vision 2030 in terms of reforms and economic diversification and expressed its hope to increase the participation of Indian companies, professionals and workers in the development projects taking place in the Kingdom. The Saudi side valued India’s advanced vision by 2047, which coincides with India’s celebration of 100 years of independence.
The two sides stressed the importance of enhancing direct and indirect investments in all fields between the two countries due to the huge investment opportunities enjoyed by the two countries, especially in the fields of energy, renewable energy, agriculture, food security, chemicals, communications and information technology, tourism, culture, health care, industry, mining and pharmaceutical industries.
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