Saudi Arabia, India ink five major agreements including counter-terrorism accord

In an attempt to further solidify business ties between Saudi Arabia and India, the two countries signed five agreements, including one on counter-terrorism initiatives. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Saudi King Salman, met on Sunday to discuss important matters pertaining to both these countries and inking down the important deals.

Narendra Modi is on his first official visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is home to a large number of Indian workers and is also a major trade partner. Saudi Arabia exports around 19 percent of its crude oil to India and is hoping to diversify its export portfolio further, in an attempt to combat the lower global oil prices which are negatively impacting the country’s revenue.

According to the details provided, the two countries signed five agreements encompassing areas such as; intelligence sharing related to terror financing and money laundering, labor cooperation agreement and another to promote bilateral investments in the private sector. It was also agreed to increase visits by military experts and further joint military exercises in an attempt to intensify defense cooperation.

Historically, Saudi Arabia has been a close ally of Pakistan, but with the changing economic world scenario, it is attempting to strengthen its relationship with other countries. Saudi Arabia is also attempting to maintain its edge over Iran, which is attempting to increase its oil imports to India.

Modi has repeatedly come under fire for his party’s links to hard-line Hindu groups, but with this move, it seems that he wants to change that image. India and other South Asian countries supply millions of migrant laborers to Saudi Arabia, who are then employed on low-paying menial jobs. During his visit, Modi also visited the labor camp housing Indian workers and had dinner with them. He also announced on his Twitter account that a round-the-clock helpline will be set up for Indian workers living in Saudi Arabia.

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Posted by fatimaarshad on Apr 5 2016. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.