Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia this evening. Prime Minister Modi is going there at the invitation of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. During his visit, PM will hold special talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on a range of issues. Modi’s journey in this West Asian country is considered special in many ways. During this two-day visit, the Prime Minister is expected to sign about a dozen important agreements to strengthen ties in various key sectors including oil-gas, renewable energy and civil aviation. Earlier, the Prime Minister visited this country in the year 2016.
During this 2-day tour, PM Modi will launch RuPay cards in the country. Modi will also attend the third session of Future Investment Initiative (FII) and will have his keynote address here. The Prime Minister will reach Riyadh on Monday night. He is going to have a very busy schedule in Saudi on Tuesday. He will leave for New Delhi on Tuesday night itself.
FII is also called ‘Davos in Desert’. In 2017 it was launched in Riyadh. Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs (Economic Affairs) TS Tirumurthy has said that among the important agreements that will be signed are the introduction of the India-Saudi Arabia Diplomatic Partnership Council, the agreement on the introduction of RuPay cards and the coordination between the e-migration system of the two countries.
An official said that the two sides will also discuss increasing defense and security cooperation. He said that the first naval exercise between the two countries would be held by the end of this year or early next year. Regarding cross-border terrorism, Tirumurthy said both India and Saudi Arabia have concerns about terrorism, which appeared in a joint statement issued after the visit of Vali Ahad (successor) crown prince Mohammed bin Salman in February.
