RIYADH: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday concluded his first official visit to Saudi Arabia during which he reviewed all aspects of India-Saudi Arabia bilateral relations and discussed regional and global issues.
Jaishankar arrived in Riyadh on September 10, 2022. During the visit, he called on Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Prince Mohammed bin Salman on September 11 in Jeddah and handed over a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveying greetings on the upcoming National Day of Saudi Arabia on September 23 and reiterating an invitation to Crown Prince to visit India at an early date, an Embassy of India in Riyadh press release stated.
Earlier, on September 11 afternoon the EAM met the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in Riyadh.
The two Ministers co-chaired the inaugural meeting of the Committee on Political, Security, Social and Cultural Cooperation (PSSC), under the framework of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council, added the release.
Both Ministers assessed the progress in bilateral relations positively across all domains including political, trade, energy, investments, defence, security and culture. Several areas were identified for further enhancing bilateral cooperation such as food security, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, defence industry and entertainment.
The two Ministers endorsed the work of the four Joint Working Groups of the PSSC (Political and Consular; Defence; Legal and Security; and Social and Cultural) well as the Senior Officials Meetings, said the release.
They also discussed greater coordination between the two countries in multilateral organisations, especially the G-20. Jaishankar met the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Dr Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf on September 10 and discussed India-GCC relations.
The EAM and GCC Secretary General also signed an MOU on Mechanism of Consultations between India and GCC. The MOU provides for the institutionalization of annual dialogue between India and the GCC and setting up Working Groups on different areas of cooperation, added the release.
During the visit, Jaishankar also interacted with the Indian community in Saudi Arabia at an event organized at the Indian Embassy on September 10.
Further, the EAM also addressed senior Saudi officials, academics and future Saudi diplomats in an interactive session at the Prince Saud Al Faisal Institute of Diplomatic Studies on September 11.
India-Saudi Arabia relations have strengthened considerably over the past few years including in political, security, energy, trade, investment, health, food security, cultural and defence fields. The top leadership of both countries remained in close touch even during the Covid-19 pandemic. (ANI)
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