INDIA - SAUDI ARABIA – INTERNATIONAL
News: Leading
Saudi moderate arriving next week, will meet Jaishankar & NSA, talk to
religious leaders
What's in the news?
● Mohammad
bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, former Minister for Justice of Saudi Arabia and a
leading global voice on moderate Islam, is scheduled to visit India next week.
● During
his five-day visit, Al-Issa is scheduled to hold discussions with External
Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and
Minority Affairs Minister Smriti Irani.
India -Saudi Arabia bilateral ties:
Strategic Partner:
● Saudi
Arabia has been a strategic partner of India since the signing of the Riyadh Declaration
in 2010.
Trade relations:
● India
needs the Gulf countries, Saudi Arabia in particular, to invest in the country
and power its economic recovery.
● During
FY22 (April-December), bilateral trade was valued at $29.28 billion. During
this period, India’s imports from Saudi Arabia were valued at $22.65 billion
and exports to Saudi Arabia were worth $6.63 billion.
Energy security:
● Saudi
Arabia is the third largest oil exporter
to India.
● More
than 18 percent of India’s crude oil imports are sourced from Saudi Arabia.
● 32% LPG requirements
of India have been fulfilled by Saudi Arabia.
Strategic significance:
● Saudi
Arabia is geographically located near the Strait of Hormuz.
● This
is the world's most important oil artery and strategically important for India’s
energy security.
Against Pakistan:
● Saudi
Arabia has a substantial influence over Pakistan. India can use this influence
to bring Pakistan to the negotiating table for talks on terrorism and bilateral
relations.
Economic and investment relations:
● There
are also around 745 Indian companies registered either as joint ventures or as
100% owned subsidiaries in Saudi Arabia, with investments of around $2 billion.
● Saudi has one of the
largest Sovereign Fund in the World.
It is an important nation to invest in India particularly in the National Infrastructure and Investment fund (NIIF).
India needs funds for its infrastructure sector.
● India
is the largest recipient of foreign
remittance from West Asia.
● Saudi
Aramco and UAE’s ADNOC are jointly participating in the development of the US $
44 billion ‘West Coast Refinery & Petrochemicals Project Limited’ in
Raigad, Maharashtra.
Exports:
● Other
areas of interest for joint collaboration are fertilizers, food security,
infrastructure, renewable energy, etc.
● ICT, healthcare and
pharmaceuticals, electronic and manufacturing
facilities, and housing are other potential areas of enhanced cooperation.
Cultural relations:
● The
Saudi Kingdom facilitates Hajj
pilgrimage to over 1,75,000 Indians every year. This is one of the other
reasons why Saudi Arabia is an important country for India.
● Around 11 million Indians
are working in West Asia.
Strategic Partnership Council:
● India-Saudi
Strategic Partnership Council was formed to coordinate on strategically
important issues.
● The
council will be headed by the Prime Minister and Crown Prince Mohammed and will
meet every two years.
● India
is the fourth country with which Saudi Arabia has formed such a strategic partnership,
after the UK, France and China.
Why is Saudi Arabia important for India?
● Around
18% of crude oil and 32% of LPG requirements are fulfilled by Saudi Arabia.
● Saudi
Arabia is the largest reserve of crude oil and biggest producer in OPEC
organization.
● Saudi Arabia has higher
influencing capacity among Muslim countries,
through this India can influence Pakistan.
● Peaceful
relation with Saudi Arabia is the prerequisite for healthy India- west Asia
relation.
● Security of 4 million
Indian workers in Saudi Arabia.
● India
needs Saudi Arabia to support India’s efforts against terrorism and against
Pakistan.
● Saudi
Arabia is an influential nation in the Middle East and Muslim World. Riyadh has
largely shown an understanding of India’s terrorism-related concerns, and has
agreed to work with India in countering the global menace.
● While
energy security continues to dominate the agenda, security and defense
cooperation are becoming more important in the India-Saudi relationship.
India’s Look West policy:
● Cold war period:
India remained a passive player though maintained close economic cooperation
with both Saudi Arabia and Iran.
● India
adopted the Look West policy in 2005.
● India
now follows a Secular and Non- Aligned
Policy.
● Focus
is on business-to-business and people-to-people relationships.
● There
is a focus on maritime diplomacy.
● Relationships
today are driven more by economic calculation than political rhetoric.
● Though
India has a separate look West policy, India prefers to maintain relations with
West Asia countries separately.
Challenges:
● The
politics of the Middle East is complex
and multidimensional so requires a collective and united effort.
● The
Saudi Arabia-Turkey rivalry could create problems for India.
● Saudi Arabia-Iran
Rivalry: India has close relations with both Saudi
Arabia and Iran. However, India is yet to work out a way to balance its ties
with Iran on the one hand and Saudi Arabia and the United States on the other.
WAY FORWARD:
● Need
for a balance policy in terms of strategic, defence and economic partnership
● Diversification of trade
relations beyond crude oil and LPG
● Collaboration
on handling terrorism through
sharing of military insights and increasing joint military exercises.