New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is on a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia from Saturday, during an interaction with the Indian community in the Gulf country, lauded the strategic relationship between the two nations and said that the collaboration holds the promise of a shared growth, prosperity, stability, security and development, news agency PTI reported. The External Affairs Minister was addressing the diplomats at the Prince Saud Al Faisal Institute of Diplomatic Studies in Riyadh.
"Addressed diplomats at the Prince Saud Al Faisal Institute of Diplomatic Studies in Riyadh this morning. Underlined the importance of India-Saudi Strategic Relationship at a time when the world is at crossroads,” the minister said in a tweet.
"Our collaboration holds promise of shared growth, prosperity, stability, security and development,” he further wrote.
It is to be noted that this is Jaishankar’s first visit to Saudi Arabia as the External Affairs Minister.
During the visit, Jaishankar is set to co-chair with his Saudi Arabian counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud the first ministerial meeting of the Committee on Political, Security, Social and Cultural Cooperation (PSSC), that has been established under the framework of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council.
Notably, the partnership between India and Saudi Arabia is focused on four areas - political issues, security, socio-cultural relations and defence cooperation, with Saudi Arabia being India’s fourth-largest trading partner.
More than 18 per cent of India’s crude oil imports are sourced from Saudi Arabia. During April -December 2022, bilateral trade was valued at USD 29.28 billion.
During this period, India’s imports from Saudi Arabia were valued at USD 22.65 billion and exports were worth USD 6.63 billion.