During visit to Saudi Arabia, MEA Secretary reviews partnership in key priority areas

Secretary (CPV & OIA), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Ausaf Sayeed recently visited the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where he held various bilateral meetings and participated in the 1st India-GCC Senior Officials Meeting. During his visit, he reviewed the progress made in different spheres under the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council (SPC).

On March 21, Secretary Sayeed discussed the progress made under the Committee on Economy and Investment of the SPC with President and CEO of the Saudi Centre for International Strategic Partnerships (SCISP) Faisal Al-Sugair.

"Both sides agreed to make further progress on priority opportunities identified under the committee, including in areas such as renewable energy, grid connectivity, pharmaceuticals, food security, IT, Fintech, and water resources," the MEA said on Wednesday.

Following this, on March 22, Secretary (CPV & OIA) met with Saudi Minister for Hajj & Umrah Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, during which he thanked the Saudi Minister for giving India a 1,75,025-person Haj quota for 2023. He extended an invitation for him to travel to India at his earliest convenience.

Earlier, on March 19, the Secretary (CPV & OIA) met with Deputy Minister for International Partnerships in the Saudi Ministry of Investment, Mohammad Al Hassnah, to discuss opportunities for bilateral investment exchanges. "Both sides deliberated on forming an investment bridge for accelerating the pending investment projects and facilitating investors," the MEA said.

On March 20, he also had discussions with the Saudi Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Waleed bin Abdul Kareem El-Khereiji, about the Political-Security-Social-Cultural pillar of the SPC. According to the MEA, they positively assessed the contiued high-level contacts between the two countries.