Prime Minister Narendra Modi emabarked on a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. He will be on a visit to the kingdom from April 22-23 at the invitation of Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In his departure statement, PM Modi said that India and Saudi Arabia have developed a mutually beneficial and substantive partnership, including in the domains of defence, trade, investment, energy and people-to-people ties.
"Leaving for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where I will be attending various meetings and programmes. India values our historic relations with Saudi Arabia. Bilateral ties have gained significant momentum in the last decade. I look forward to participating in the 2nd Meeting of the Strategic Partnership Council. I will also be interacting with the Indian community there", the PM said in a post on X.
This is his 3rd visit to Saudi Arabia, while all PMs before him together visited Saudi Arabia 3 times in 7 decades. This is also his 15th visit to a country in the Gulf region.
India and Saudi Arabia are set to sign at least six memoranda of understanding (MoUs) on Tuesday during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Jeddah, with talks ongoing late Monday to finalise a few more agreements, according to sources.
According to PTI, PM Modi will also discuss issues relating to Hajj including the quota for Indian pilgrims, during his meeting with Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud in the evening.
(With inputs from PTI)