NEW DELHI (CU)_Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed bilateral ties between India and Saudi Arabia, during a phone call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday (10 March).
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the two leaders also discussed cooperation between the two countries, in the spirit of the special friendship, particularly in their battle against COVID-19.
The Office said in a statement that the pair reviewed the functioning of the Strategic Partnership Council launched between the India and Saudi Arabia in October 2019, and expressed their satisfaction regarding the steady growth in the partnership between the two nations.
During the phone call, PM Modi highlighted the opportunities the Indian economy offers to investors from the Gulf nation, and expressed his wish to further expand trade and investment between the two countries.
The pair also emphasised the need to fight terrorism and violence and agreed to pressurise countries which support terrorism in any form. The Prime Minister’s Office said that they further reviewed regional and international developments of mutual interest as well.
The Saudi Crown Prince last visited India two years ago, and he also met PM Modi in 2018 in Buenos Aires, on the sidelines of the G-20 summit, during which they agreed to launch a mechanism to scale up Riyadh’s investment in the energy, defence and infrastructure sectors in India. During this meeting, they also discussed ways to further boost economic, cultural, and energy ties between the two nations.
The Prime Minister’s previous phone conversation with the Kingdom’s de facto ruler was almost six months ago, when the pair discussed the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Accordingly, during the call on Wednesday, PM Modi invited the Saudi leader to visit India at an early date.
