Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited in February 2019.
Defence Cooperation: The visit has highlighted defence cooperation and intelligence collaboration as two areas where ties should be strengthened.
Security Dialogue: A comprehensive security dialogue between the national security advisers of the two nations has been announced, besides a joint working group on terrorism.
Naval Exercises: On defence, the two nations have agreed to hold their inaugural joint naval exercises at the earliest. They may collaborate for the production of spare parts for naval and land systems, as well as supply-chain development.
Why Saudi Arabia Matters to India?
India has the world’s third largest Muslim population (after Indonesia and Pakistan), and there is inevitably a religious-cultural aspect to the ties with the custodian of Islam’s holiest sites. Plus, there are more than 2.7 million Indians working in Saudi.
The Ministry of External Affairs described Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the kingdom in 2016 as a “turning point” that took the strategic engagement “upward”. Saudi Arabia honoured Modi with its highest civilian honour, the King Abdulaziz Sash.
