India and Saudi Arabia share centuries old

Transcript:India and Saudi Arabia share centuries old:
India and Saudi Arabia share centuries old economic and socio-cultural ties. Economic ties constitute a keynote aspect of the bilateral strategic partnership. The Delhi Declaration (signed in 2006 on the side-lines of H.E. King Abdullah’s visit to India) and Riyadh Declaration (signed in 2010 during the Prime Ministerial visit) emphasized on energy cooperation between our two friendly countries. The landmark visits of Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi to the Kingdom in 2016 and 2019 and the State visit of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to India in February 2019 has marked a new era in the bilateral relations, which culminated in the setting up of the Strategic Partnership Council (SPC), co-chaired by the two leaders. Besides, the two sides signed 11 other MoUs in the major fields. There have been a number of Ministerial visits from both sides on regular basis. A brief description of such visits from India to the Kingdom is enclosed at Annexure I. TRADE & GROWTH Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth largest trade partner and a major source of energy, as India imports around 18% of its crude oil requirement and 30 % of its LPG requirement from the Kingdom. In FY 2019-20, bilateral trade was valued at US $33.09 billion. During this period, India’s imports from Saudi Arabia reached US $26.84 billion and exports to Saudi Arabia were worth US$ 6.25 billion registering an increase of 12.18% over last year. Total trade with Saudi Arabia accounted for 4.23% of India’s total trade in FY 2019-20. India’s Export to Saudi Arabia Top products Imported to Saudi Arabia from India Food Products Automobile Petroleum Products Ceramic Products Other Products Other Products Value in million US$ MORE DETAILS Major Saudi Investors in India Saudi Arabia is the 21st largest investor in India with investments amounting to US $1.8 billion (as per DPIIT from April 2000 to Dec 2020) Major investment groups from KSA include ARAMCO, SABIC, ZAMIL,E-holidays and Al Batterjee Group. Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund-backed Soft Bank’s ‘Vision Fund’ has invested several billion dollars in Indian Start-ups such as Delhivery, FirstCry, Grofers, Ola, OYO, Paytm and PolicyBazaar Sector-wise Collaboration Hydrocarbons Food Security Pharmaceuticals Healthcare ICT Energy Construction Sector New Thrust Areas of Cooperation Defence Automotive & Machinery Textiles Hydrocarbons Saudi Arabia plays an important role in India’s energy security as it has consistently been one of the top suppliers of crude oil and gas over the years. India