New Delhi: Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin-Abdul Aziz’s will be visiting India from Feb 26-28. His visit is expected to give a major enhancement in the bilateral ties of the two countries. There are also chances to sign various agreements in defense, trade and investment, and energy sectors.
Prince Salman, aged 79, is the second important person in the wealthy, oil-rich kingdom after King Abdullah. He is also the Arab kingdom’s first deputy prime minister and defense minister. During the visit, he will be accompanied by high-level delegation and a contingent of businessmen to investigate the possibilities of investment in tourism sector, oil and natural gas and infrastructure fields. According to knowledgeable sources the crown prince is highly impressed with India’s performance in various sectors.
As far as Saudi Arabia is concerned, India is an investment hub for their businesses ventures in Asia. It is a well known fact that Saudi investors are showing keen interest in the emerging Indian market because in India there are ample opportunities for huge investments in multilateral sectors.
During his visit, Prince Salman will hold wide-range of talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari and Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid and other key Indian leaders.
He will hold talks on bilateral cooperation in addition to many international issues like developments in Afghanistan, and the situation in Syria as well as other parts of the Middle East Asia.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram had recently visited the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and extended an invitation to Prince Sultan to visit India, which was gladly accepted by him. This is his second visit to India after becoming the crown prince.