Key Highlights of the visit:
- Trade and Investment:
- Saudi Arabia will invest 100 billion dollars in India in range of areas including energy, refining, petrochemicals, infrastructure, agriculture and manufacturing.
- A MoU on investing in the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund of India was signed.
- The two sides agreed on further deepening trade and investment cooperation by aligning the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 with India’s flagship initiatives of "Make in India”, "Start Up India”, "Smart Cities”, "Clean India”, and "Digital India”.
- Energy:
- They expressed a desire to grow bilateral trade in the energy sector, acknowledging Saudi Arabia as the world’s most reliable supplier of oil & gas and the key supplier to India.
- The two sides expressed satisfaction at the first Joint Venture West Coast Refinery and Petrochemical Project estimated to cost US $ 44 billion.
- Saudi Arabia signed the Framework Agreement on the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
- Strategic relations:
- The two sides agreed to cement the existing ‘Strategic Partnership’ with ‘high-level monitoring mechanism by the creation of the Strategic Partnership Council.
- The two sides agreed to hold the inaugural joint naval exercises at the earliest.
- The two sides condemned in the strongest terms, the recent terrorist attack on Indian security forces on 14th February in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir. They also noted the need for early adoption of the UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.
- Soft power:
- Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman has ordered the release of 850 Indian prisoners lodged in his country's jails on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's request.
- Saudi Arabia has also agreed to resolve issues relating to Indian workers who are currently stranded in the kingdom due to the closure of a foreign company.
- Crown Prince also announced the increase in quota for Indian Haj pilgrims to 200,000.
- India has decided to extend the e-Visa facility to Saudi nationals.
