Cooperation on security issues between India, Saudi progressing well: PM Modi

Team Udayavani, Oct 29, 2019, 11:11 AM IST

Riyadh: India and Saudi Arabia share security concerns in their neighbourhood and their cooperation on security issues, including counter-terrorism, are progressing well, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said.

The prime minister, who arrived here on Monday night to attend a key financial conference and hold talks with the top Saudi leadership, made the remarks in an interview published in the Arab news on Tuesday.

“I believe that Asian powers like India and Saudi Arabia share similar security concerns in their neighbourhood,” Modi said, without referring to any country.

Saudi Arabia is a key ally of Pakistan, which is accused by its neighbours of providing safe havens to terrorists.

India has not been engaging with Pakistan since an attack on the Air Force base at Pathankot in January of 2016 by a Pakistan-based terror group, maintaining that talks and terror cannot go together.

The bilateral relations touched a new low when India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August following which Pakistan downgraded the diplomatic ties and expelled the Indian envoy.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has been a frequent visitor to Saudi Arabia to seek Riyadh’s support on the Kashmir issue.

“I am happy that our cooperation, particularly in the field of counterterrorism, security and strategic issues, is progressing very well. My national security adviser just visited Riyadh for a very productive visit,” Modi said, referring to the visit of National security adviser Ajit Doval to the Gulf Kingdom.

“We have a Joint Committee on Defence Cooperation that holds regular meetings. We have identified a number of areas of mutual interest and cooperation in the field of defence and security,” he said.

Modi said the two countries are also in the process of entering into agreements on security cooperation, collaboration in defence industries, and they have also agreed to hold a comprehensive security dialogue mechanism between them.

This is Prime Minister Modi’s second visit to the Gulf Kingdom. During his first visit in 2016, King Salman conferred Saudi’s highest civilian award on him. The Crown Prince visited India in February 2019, giving a further fillip to the bilateral ties.

India’s relations with Saudi Arabia have been on an upswing over the last few years. India’s bilateral trade with Saudi Arabia was at USD 27.48 billion in 2017-18, making Saudi Arabia its fourth largest trading partner.

Saudi Arabia last month said it was looking at investing USD 100 billion in India in areas of energy, refining, petrochemicals, infrastructure, agriculture, minerals and mining.