LIVE: India, Saudi to sign dozen agreements

17:03 October 29

PM Modi meets Saudi Energy Minister HRH Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud

13:39 October 29

Modi meets Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadley

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Saudi Arabia's Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadley, in Riyadh

13:36 October 29

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets King Abdullah II

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets King Abdullah II of Jordan in Riyadh. Both leaders exchanged views on working closely together to strengthen our ties across sectors, specially in trade & investment, human resource development & people-to-people ties.

13:32 October 29

LIVE: India, Saudi to sign dozen agreements

Hyderabad: India and Saudi Arabia are likely to sign 12 key agreements during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's two-day visit to Riyadh starting Monday.

Modi reached the West Asian nation on October 28 and will meet King Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud on Tuesday.

During the meeting, the two leaders will ink a dozen agreements pertaining to renewable energy, defence procurement and civil aviation, informed India's ambassador to Riyadh Ausaf Sayeed.

Later in the day, Modi will address the Future Investment Initiative Forum organised by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Modi will launch Rupay card in the nation helping 2.6 million Indian diaspora living in the nation. Moreover, the rolling out of the plastic money in the nation will also benefit Indian pilgrims travelling to the Mecca and Medina mosques.

With the launch of Rupay card, Saudi will be the third nation after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain where the card can be used.

Besides, experts believe the two nations may witness the signing of MoU on joint venture between Indian Oil Middle East and Saudi's Al-Jeri to set up outlets in the nation.

India also hopes to reach a final agreement to finalise investment in National Infrastructure Investment Fund.

Relations between the two nations are strong and close, especially in commercial interests. Indo-Saudi bilateral trade reached US$27.48 billion in the financial year 2017–18, up from US$25.1 billion in the preceding year. Saudi Arabia's exports to India stood at US$22.06 billion whereas India's exports were US$5.41 billion.