Saudi Arabia’s FM Prince Faisal meets Indian counterpart on G20 sidelines
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan met with his Indian counterpart Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Bali, Indonesia, the Kingdom’s foreign ministry announced on Thursday.
The delegations reportedly reviewed “aspects of Saudi-Indian relations in many areas of joint cooperation, and ways to support and enhance them,” the ministry said in a Twitter thread.
The meeting was attended by the Ambassador of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to the Republic of Indonesia, Issam al-Thaqafi, and the Director General of the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdul Rahman al-Daoud, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
The countries enjoy strong bilateral trade and friendly foreign relations that date as far back as 1947, according to an online report by Indian Embassy in Riyadh.
The current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Riyadh in April 2016 during which King Salman conferred the highest civilian honor – the King Abdulaziz Sash in recognition of the strong relations between the two nations.
During a February 2019 visit to India by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Kingdom announced an investment of nearly $100 billion in addition to agreements in the tourism and housing sectors.
Prime Minister Modi visited Riyadh again in October 2019, during which 12 MoUs were signed across energy, security, defense production, civil aviation, medical products, strategic petroleum reserves, small and medium scale industries, and training of diplomats.
Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth largest trading partner, according to the report by the Indian Embassy. More than 18 percent of India’s crude oil imports are reportedly sourced from Saudi Arabia with bilateral trade in FY22 (April to December) valued at $29.28 billion.
Saudi Arabia is also home to an estimated 2.2 million Indian expats, the largest expat community in the Kingdom.
