PM Modi on 2-day trip to Saudi from Tuesday

NEW DELHI: Energy, trade, investment and defence ties, along with a focus on addressing regional and global issues like the West Asia situation and Russia-Ukraine war, will dominate PM Narendra Modi's agenda for his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia starting Tuesday. Modi and Crown Prince and PM Mohammed bin Salman will hold bilateral talks in Jeddah during which they will also look to discuss projects to facilitate the India Middle-East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC), work on which has continued despite the conflict in West Asia.
Several MoUs, including one on green hydrogen, are expected to be signed by the two sides following the talks, foreign secretary Vikram Misri said at a press conference Saturday. There will be an effort to infuse a "strategic" dimension to India-Saudi Arabia energy cooperation, he added.
The foreign secretary said that Modi's visit will provide an opportunity to build on the already strong strategic partnership between India and Saudi Arabia. Misri indicated that there could be discussions on how to take steps to facilitate Saudi Arabia's plan to invest $100 billion in India.
During the crown prince's visit to India in 2019, Saudi Arabia had announced its plan to invest $100 billion in the energy sector and certain other sectors. "There are certain issues that they had raised and we have worked constructively on those. The high level task force on investment (HLTFI) was set up in Oct 2023 and it had its first meeting last year and since then, it had several meetings," Misri said. HLTFI was set up to expedite the proposed investment.
He said India approached the issues flagged by the Saudi side with a "very open mind" and assured Riyadh about addressing its "concerns". He said implementation of the ambitious IMEEC project may figure in the talks between Modi and Salman.
The Israel-Hamas conflict as well as the situation in Ukraine are also expected to figure in the talks. Misri said India and Saudi are also expected to bolster their defence ties that could include putting in place a framework for more military exercises and high-level engagements.