Major announcements during Saudi Crown Prince’s maiden state visit to India include $100 billion investment, release of 850 Indian prisoners from Saudi jails and increase in Indian Haj Quota
Saudi Arabia and India reiterated their commitment on major bilateral issues during the maiden State Visit of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz to India, on Wednesday. Accompanied by high-level dignitaries and large business delegation, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia inspected the Guard of honour at the ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in the presence of President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, and Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
Adding new dimensions to historical ties of both the countries, five documents were exchanged in the presence of PM Modi and Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia focusing on the areas of investment, tourism, housing, and information & broadcasting. Showing huge confidence in the Indian economy, Saudi Arabia announced $100 billion investment in India, in various sectors including energy, refining, petro-chemicals, infrastructure, agriculture and manufacturing, etc.
Other major announcement during the visit includes the release order of 850 Indian prisoners lodged in Saudi jails and an increase in the quota for Indian Haj pilgrims to 200,000, both decisions taken on the request of PM Modi.
In an India-Saudi Arabia Joint Statement, the two sides re-affirmed their deep commitment to strengthen the ‘strategic partnership’ envisaged in the ‘Riyadh Declaration’ of February 2010 and reiterated during the visit of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques His Majesty King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, in February 2014 and the visit of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to Saudi Arabia in April 2016. Both counties welcomed the outcomes of the Workshop between NITI Aayog and Saudi Centre for International Strategic Partnership (SCISP), organised recently in Riyadh. The Workshop has identified more than 40 opportunities of joint collaboration and investments across various sectors.