In-depth discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud resulted in an agreement to strengthen their security and commerce relations. The first summit-level gathering of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council (SPC) also co-chaired by the two presidents.
This follows the launch of the enormously important India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) during the G20 conference in New Delhi.
2019 saw the establishment of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic collaboration Council. Soon making India the fourth nation with which Riyadh has established such a collaboration, following the UK, France, and China.
What is the Strategic Partnership Council between Saudi Arabia and India?
The agreement to create the SPC was inked in October 2019. During PM Modi’s second trip to Saudi Arabia in three years. According to a Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announcement. Later the Strategic Partnership Council primarily sought to “establish a high-level council to steer the Indo-Saudi relationship.”
The SPC will “start a new era of cooperation across sectors,” according to PM Modi at the time. Our relationships are strong and deep in many areas, including commerce, investment, security, and defense cooperation, and they will only get stronger.
The Committee on Political, Security, Social and Cultural Cooperation and the Committee on Economy and Investments are the two primary pillars of the SPC, according to the MEA.
There are four functional participation levels for each subcommittee: senior official meetings, summit level (Prime Minister and Crown Prince), ministerial level, and joint working groups (JWGs).
Formed under each subcommittee are four JWGs. Political & Consular, Legal & Security, Social & Cultural, and Joint Committee on Defense Cooperation are the JWGs under the Political Committee.
Agriculture & Food Security, Energy, Technology & Information Technology, Industry and Infrastructure are the JWGs under the Economic committee.
The conversations between the two presidents found a number of areas for collaboration, according to Ausaf Sayeed, secretary (overseas Indian relations) at the Ministry of External relations. These included energy, defense, security, education, technology, transportation, healthcare, tourism, and culture.
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