EAM Jaishankar holds bilateral meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar yesterday hold a bilateral meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in New Delhi. During the meeting, both leaders discussed avenues to strengthen the Strategic Partnership between India and Saudi Arabia in areas including trade, investment, energy, defence, security, culture and consular matters. They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.

The two ministers also co-chaired the second ministerial meeting of the Political, Security, Social and Cultural Committee (PSSC) of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council (SPC) during which they reviewed the progress in the bilateral relationship since the State Visit of Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to India in September 2023.

Dr Jaishankar expressed his appreciation to the Saudi Foreign Minister for the welfare of the 2.65 million strong Indian community living in the Kingdom who have contributed to the strong people-to-people ties between the two countries.

He highlighted



that India and Saudi Arabia are collaborating in many areas including defence and security. He said both countries are working together to counter terrorism, combating extremism, restricting terror financing and drug trafficking. He said India and Saudi Arabia maintained a good tempo of high-level engagements and coordination across the multilateral forum.

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said relations with India are built on a long-standing foundation of cooperation and mutual respect. He said Saudi Arabia will continue to align its positions on issues of shared concern to ensure international peace, security and economic development.

The Saudi Foreign Affairs Minister arrived in Delhi yesterday on a two-day visit to India. India and Saudi Arabia enjoy cordial and friendly relations reflecting the centuries-old economic and socio-cultural ties. India is the second largest trade partner of Saudi Arabia while Saudi Arabia is the fourth largest trading partner of India. Bilateral trade was valued at 52.76 billion US dollars in the last financial year.