The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud will be paying a state visit to India next month, the first of its kind in 50 years after King Saud bin Abdul Aziz visited New Delhi in 1955, said Ambassador Saleh Mohd. Al-Ghamdi.
Speaking to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) in New Delhi, the Ambassador affirmed that King Abdullah’s visit is a manifestation of the historical depth of the relations between the Kingdom and India and it reflects the growing and deepening bilateral relations between the two friendly countries and the importance of their pivotal strategic role in international arena.
Ambassador Al-Ghamdi termed the Saudi-India relations as “historic strategic and close” pointing out that these relations have been growing well of late and that they are strategic relations based on common interests and both the countries are keen to increase the pace of their interaction. He said India is a friendly country and we regard it a very important country that must be engaged with not only for Saudi Arabia and GCC countries but all Arab countries.
Responding to a question, the Ambassador said that the volume of bilateral trade between the two countries has reached around six billion US dollars and the trade balance is in favour of Saudi Arabia because of oil exports to India as the Kingdom meets about 26% of India’s oil requirements. He said bilateral trade will be enhanced in the coming months and years so as to make it commensurate with the strength and volume of the two
economies and favourable for both sides, adding that a lot of business and trade interaction and exchange of visits is going on between the two countries which will greatly contribute in raising the bilateral trade to higher levels.
He recalled that a Saudi business delegation led by Dr. Abdul Rehman Al-Rabiah, Co-Chairman of Saudi – India Business Council visited India last week and the two sides held first meeting of the Joint Business Council. Such meetings will boost the trade, economic and investment relations between the two countries.
In the context of bilateral trade, Ambassador Al-Ghamdi said that Saudi exports to India include oil and its by-products, chemicals, cooking oil, milk powder, glass, paper, steel, iron, electrical and electronic appliances, clothes, hand-made products, leather items, perfumes, cosmetics, precious stones and carpets, while Saudi imports from India comprise communication and electrical devices, leather products, ready-made clothes, nylon, carpets and blankets, furniture, sanitary equipment, construction material, car spare-parts, medical equipments, cars and trucks, rice, meat and other agro-products and chemicals.
On whether any economic or trade agreements are to be signed during the visit, the Ambassador said, “we hope so . We are working to finalize some agreements that are expected to be inked during the visit”. He also indicated that a large Saudi business delegation would accompany the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques during his visit to India.
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