Saudi Arabia - India Relations

On the invitation of His Majesty King Salman, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi paid an official visit to Riyadh from 28-29 October 2019 during which the Strategic Partnership Council Agreement was signed, identifying India as one of the Kingdom’s Strategic Partner Countries under ‘Vision 2030’ with a high-level partnership council at the leadership level.

During His Royal Highness the Crown Prince’s visit to India in Feb 2019, the two sides agreed on further deepening trade and investment cooperation between the two countries by aligning the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and its 13 Vision Realization Programs with India’s flagship initiatives of "Make in India”, "Start Up India”, "Smart Cities”, "Clean India”, and "Digital India”.

The visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Riyadh in 2016 can be seen as a turning point in our growing engagements with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which have taken an upward strategic direction.

The reciprocal visit by then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to Saudi Arabia in 2010 raised the level of bilateral engagement to ‘Strategic Partnership’ and the ‘Riyadh Declaration’ signed during the visit enhanced cooperation in political, economic, security and defence realms.

The first India-Saudi Arabia joint naval exercises were held towards the end of December 2019 to the beginning of January 2020

The diplomatic relations between the two countries was established in 1947. The historic visit of King Abdullah to India in 2006 resulted in signing of ‘Delhi Declaration’ imparting a fresh momentum to the bilateral relationship.

Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth largest trade partner and a major source of energy as India imports around 18% of its crude oil requirement from the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia is also a major source of LPG for India. In 2018-19, India-Saudi bilateral trade has increased by 23.83% to $34.03 bn. During this period, India’s imports reached $28.47 bn, an increase of 29.04% over the previous year whereas exports to Saudi Arabia reached $5.55 billion, an increase of 2.61% over the previous year. The bilateral trade for the period from April - December 2019 is valued at $24.73 billion.

The business and visit visa fees for the Indian nationals were decreased and fixed on reciprocal terms. Saudi Arabia is the 15^th largest market in the world for Indian exports and is the destination to 1.85% (2017-18) of India’s global exports.

Saudi Arabia is the 3^rd largest source (4.74% in 2017-18) of India’s global imports. For Saudi Arabia, as in 2017, India is the 4^th largest market for its exports, accounting for 8.88 % of its global exports. In terms of imports by Saudi Arabia, India ranks 7^th and is a source of around 4.13% of Saudi Arabia’s total imports.

According to Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), there are 322 Indian companies registered as joint ventures/100% owned entities worth $1.4 billion in the Kingdom as of December 2017.

Saudi Petrochemical Giant SABIC set up its R&D Centre in Bangalore with an investment of over $100 million in November 2013. Saudi Aramco and UAE’s ADNOC are jointly developing a $44 billion ‘West Coast Refinery & Petrochemicals Project Limited’ in Raigad, Maharashtra. Saudi Company Al- Fanar is executing a 300 MW power project in Kutchh.

Saudi Arabia hosts a 2.6 million Indian community which has been living in harmony and contributing to the development and progress of Saudi Arabia. Indians in Saudi Arabia send back remittances to the tune of $11 billion or more annually. India and Saudi Arabia signed during February 2019 MoU on cooperation in the area of tourism. Saudi Arabia has recently opened its door for tourism which will further strengthen these relations. India has extended e-Visa facility to Saudi nationals this year.

On 21 July 2018, the 4^th International Day of Yoga was celebrated with fervour in the prestigious Al-Madi Park of the King Abdulaziz Historical Centre, Riyadh. This marked the first celebration of Yoga in public domain in the Kingdom. The event witnessed huge participation from Saudis, diplomatic corps, officials, journalists, businessmen and Indian diaspora. Two Saudi female Yoga trainers led the Yoga demonstrations on the occasion.

Saudi Arabia is the destination of Indian Muslims who go there for performing annual Haj and Umrah. Majesty, the King has agreed to increase the Haj quota for 2019 from 1,75,025 to 2,00,000. This has immediately been implemented this year itself and  Besides Haj more than three hundred thousand Indians visit for Umrah every year.

Janadriyah 2018: India successfully participated as ‘Guest of Honour’ in the 32^nd edition of the prestigious Saudi National Festival of Heritage and Culture – Janadriyah from 7 – 28 February 2018. The “Guest of Honour’ privilege comes in the backdrop of the historic visit of Hon’ble PM to Riyadh in April 2016 and the historic bilateral relations.