The most recent trip to India by MBS was in February 2019, and it was immediately followed by a trip to Saudi Arabia by Prime Minister Modi in October of the same year, at which time the two countries established the Strategic Partnership Council.
Following his participation in the G20 Summit over the weekend, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched a state visit to India on Monday. The purpose of this trip is to evaluate bilateral ties and cooperation in a variety of fields, including energy and security.
During the course of the visit, which will last for one day, discussions will take place between the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, who also serves in the role of prime minister, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Last month, Saud Al-Sati, the Saudi deputy minister for political and economic affairs, flew to New Delhi in order to oversee preparations for the upcoming visit by Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS. This trip was in preparation for MBS’s trip to India. Al-Sati, who had previously served as the ambassador to India, recently met with Ausaf Sayeed, who is the secretary for overseas Indian affairs at the ministry of external affairs. Together, they discussed the whole scope of the country’s relations with India.
On Tuesday of last week, the current Saudi ambassador, Saleh Eid Alhusseini, also met with S. Jaishankar, who is in charge of external affairs. Following the meeting, Jaishankar sent out a tweet in which he said he was “looking forward to the further development and progress of the India-Saudi Arabia relationship across all domains.”
In June, Modi and MBS had a phone call during which they discussed ways to strengthen connections in the areas of connectivity, energy, defence, trade, and investment. They also went over recent developments in bilateral collaboration. Since China mediated a peace deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran, this was the first time that the leaders of the two nations had spoken to one another since the agreement.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia has established itself as one of India’s most important partners in West Asia, particularly in the areas of military, security, and energy. In addition, there are 2.6 million Indians living in Saudi Arabia, making it one of the countries with the highest concentration of foreign residents in the area.
The most recent trip to India by MBS was in February 2019, and this was immediately followed by a trip to Saudi Arabia by Prime Minister Modi in October of the same year, during which the two nations established the Strategic Partnership Council. This organisation is built on two pillars: a committee that oversees politics, national security, social and cultural issues, and is chaired by the ministers of foreign affairs; and a committee that oversees the economics and investments, which is co-chaired by the minister of commerce in India and the minister of energy in Saudi Arabia.
