Ministry of External Affairs has scheduled a visit for the Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj to Saudi Arabia from 6th to 8th February. She will be inaugurating a prestigious festival of the Gulf nation during her visit. The ministry said that during the three-day visit, Foreign Minister will discuss regional, bilateral and global issues with the Saudi leadership.
Sushma Swaraj will inaugurate ‘Janadriyah’, a prestigious National and Cultural Festival of the Gulf nation. India is the guest of honor country for the festival which has been organized by the National Guard. The festival exhibits country’s rich history of cultural heritage. External Affairs Minister Mr. V K Singh addressed a joint press conference with Saudi Minister of National Guard Mr. Prince Khalid bin Abdulaziz bin Muhammad bin Eyaf al-Muqrin Al-Saud during which he said that India’s participation in the festival is multi-faceted.
After the landmark visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Saudi Arabia in April 2016, the ties between the two countries are strengthening. The Gulf Kingdom is home to more than 3 million Indian people and the country also accounts for more than one-fifth of India’s oil requirements making it a major source of energy requirements. On the trade side, the bilateral trade was recorded at $25.07 billion during 2016-17 with a slight decrease from $26.70 billion during 2015-16.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also on an official visit to UAE, Oman, and Palestine from 9th to 12th February while Sushma Swaraj will be on her maiden visit to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has always been important to India as it stands at number 4 in trade partnership with China, United States, and UAE. The Gulf Kingdom is also a crucial supplier of India increasing demands of crude oil with accounting for more than one-fifth of country’s oil requirements.
Swaraj’s maiden visit comes after PM Narendra Modi visited Saudi Arabia in 2016. PM Narendra Modi is also on an official visit to UAE, Oman, and Palestine from 9th to 12th February. This visit comes before the official visit to India by Iran’s President Hasan Rouhani in the last week of February. Also, India could be hosting Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud sometime later this year.
The Cultural festival Janadriyah has been celebrated in the country annually since 1985 and India have been invited as a guest of honor. A person familiar with the development of the relations between India and Saudi said that this has been a rare honor for India to be invited as a guest of honor for the annual festival.
India greatly values its “deep and close rooted civilizational and strategic relationship with the Gulf Kingdom ” Singh said noting that the Gulf country was home to more than three million Indians.
