PM on Saudi visit; to sign extradition treaty, other pacts

Amid his keenness to impart "strategic character" to India-Saudi Arabia ties, prime minister Manmohan Singh today embarked on a visit to Riyadh during which the two sides will sign an Extradition Treaty and a number of other pacts.

During the three-day trip, the first by an Indian prime minister in 28 years, Singh will hold talks with King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on a range of bilateral issues with a focus on opening "new frontiers" of cooperation in various areas including security and defence.

Noting that his visit carries a "special significance", he said in a departure statement that India and Saudi Arabia have much to gain by cooperating with each other in combating extremism and terrorism.

Singh said he would discuss with the Saudi King the situation in Afghanistan and other regional issues and ways in which "we promote greater stability and security in the region and impart a strategic character to our relations beyond the traditional areas of our cooperation".

During the visit, the two sides will sign a number of pacts including Extradition Treaty, Agreement on Transfer of sentenced prisoners and agreement on setting up joint investment fund.

Accompanied by a large delegation of business and industry leaders, the Prime Minister will also discuss ways of boosting two-way trade amid his keen interest to see increased
investments from Saudi Arabia especially in the infrastructure
sector.

"Our trade and investment linkages have grown though they remain much below the potential of our two economies and
must be broad-based," Singh said.

Saudi Arabia is India's fourth largest trading partner with two-way commerce being to the tune of about 25 billion dollars.

Referring to the Delhi Declaration issued during the visit of King Abdullah here in 2006 as Republic Day chief guest, the Prime Minister said it was a "valuable blueprint" of cooperation between the two countries in the future.

Noting that Gulf region is an area of vital importance for India's security and prosperity, he said that Saudi Arabia is India's largest and most reliable supplier of energy needs from the region.

Energy cooperation between the two countries has witnessed massive increase since King Abdullah's Delhi visit, with Saudi exports jumping from USD 500 million in 2006 to USD 23 billion in 2008, surpassing Iran as the largest supplier of crude oil to India.

Saudi Arabia hosts around 1.8 million Indians as workers. Their remittances are to the tune of five billion dollars annually.

In an interview to Saudi journalists ahead of his visit, Singh said that considerable progress had been made in realising the vision of Delhi Declaration which enshrined the commitment to pursue common strategic vision for promoting regional peace and security.

Pointing out that extremism and terrorism afflicting the region poses a "grave threat to our peoples", he said efforts of SAARC and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) should be more effectively coordinated to meet the challenges.