Relevance : GS Paper II
Introduction
India-Saudi Arabia relations have not only remained steady, but have kept their positive trajectory.
Acknowledging core interests
- Saudi Arabia showed an “understanding” of recent Indian actions in Jammu and Kashmir.
- Their bilateral defence, security and anti-terror cooperation has intensified.
The Riyadh summit
The third Riyadh summit was recently held. It demonstrates the two nations’ maturity and strategic construct.
The issues in the relations
- Trade has drifted downwards largely due to lower crude prices.
- The bilateral trade in has fallen in 2019 compare to 2018.
- Trade is in Saudi’s favour by ratio of 5: 1.
- Trade is dominated by the traditional commodities.
- The Saudi investment in India remains far below potential.
Reasons for optimism
- Indian community in Saudi is still the largest foreign community and their remittances remain steady.
- Saudi’s Vision 2030 lists eight major partner countries including India.
- Saudi Aramco is to be one of the two strategic partners in the proposed PSU refinery at Raigarh.
- Saudi has committed to investing $100 billion in India.
- Setting up of a bilateral Strategic Partnership Council (SPC) to be co-chaired by India and Saudi Arabia.
Way ahead
- Greater bilateral synergy in Indian infrastructure, agriculture, start-ups, skilling and IT.
- Shifting some labour-intensive establishments from Saudi Arabia to India to boost ‘Make in India’.
Conclusion
When the sub-region’s two largest, top-performing and complementary economies join hands, the sum would be greater than the total of the parts.
