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Modi makes trade visit to Saudi Arabia this week

By Pramod Kumar
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in New Delhi on February, 2019 Narendra Modi/X
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in New Delhi on February, 2019

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Saudi Arabia this week to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, to discuss trade, investment and energy tie-ups.

The two leaders will also discuss the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor and defence cooperation during the April 22-23 visit, the Indian Express newspaper reported.

Saudi Arabia is a major source of hard currency remittances sent by 2.6 million Indian workers resident in the kingdom back home. In 2024, Saudi Arabia accounted for nearly 7 percent of total remittances, according to the Reserve Bank of India.

In September 2023 world leaders announced a shipping and rail corridor linking countries across the Middle East, south Asia and Europe at the G20 summit in New Delhi, India.

Modi’s visit comes before US President Donald Trump, who is expected to visit Riyadh in mid-May.

The Indian leader visited the Gulf nation twice in 2016 and 2019, followed by visits by the crown prince to New Delhi in 2019 and 2023.

The kingdom is also a major source of oil for hydrocarbon-poor India. In 2023-24, India imported 33 million metric tonnes of crude from Saudi Arabia, accounting for 14 percent of India’s total crude oil imports.

The kingdom was India’s third-largest source of LPG, making up 18 percent of its total LPG imports.

In 2023-24 trade between the two countries was worth $43 billion, with Indian exports at $12 billion and imports at $31 billion.

Indian investments in Saudi Arabia reached $3 billion by August 2023, while Saudi Arabia has invested $10 billion in India, the report said.
 

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