Modi to leave for Saudi Arabia on three-day visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia, starting Tuesday, at the invitation of Saudi Arabian crown prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman.

This will be Modi’s third visit to Saudi Arabia after previous visits to the Middle Eastern country in 2016 and 2019.

The latest visit follows a state visit by the crown prince to New Delhi in September 2023 for the G20 Summit and to co-chair the first meeting of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council.

Both countries share a strategic partnership and strong bilateral ties in various areas, including political, defense, security, trade, investment, energy, technology, health, education, culture, and people-to-people ties.

The total bilateral trade between India and Saudi Arabia was $42.98 billion, with India’s exports at $11.56 billion and imports from Saudi Arabia at $31.42 billion in 2023-2024.

Saudi Arabia remained India’s third largest crude and petroleum products sourcing destination for FY24.

India imported 33.35 million metric tons of crude oil in FY24 from Saudi Arabia, accounting for 14.3% of the India’s total crude oil imports.

In FY24, Saudi Arabia was the third largest LPG sourcing destination for India, accounting for 18.2% of the total LPG imports of India for FY24.

In 2016, Modi visited Saudi Arabia, which improved cooperation between the countries in political, economic, security, and defense domains.

Modi has also received Saudi Arabia’s highest civilian honor, King Abdulaziz Sash.