King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz and Indian PM Narendra Modi held talkson Monday and reviewed the close historical bilateral ties between the twofriendly countries and peoples and exchanged views on regional and globalissues of common concern.
In a joint statement, the two sides agreed on the importance ofbilateral engagement to enhance ways to ensure the security and safety ofwaterways in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf region from threats and risks thatmay affect the interests of the two countries, including their nationalsecurity.
The two sides reaffirmed their deep commitment to strengthening thestrategic partnership. They expressed their satisfaction with the establishmentof the Strategic Partnership Council between the two countries and the signingof the Council's founding document by the Crown Prince, Muhammad bin Salman ofthe Saudi side and the Indian PM of the Indian side and their satisfaction withthe exchange of agreements, memoranda of understanding, and cooperation betweenthe government and private authorities in the two countries.
They also expressed their satisfaction with the progress of bilateral relations in the political, economic, security, defense, labor forces, and communication between the two peoples in recent years, which has strengthened the bilateral relations, as well as the high level of consultation and coordination between them in regional and international issues of common concern, as part of their responsibility to promote world peace, stability and security.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister andMinister of Defense, met with the Indian PM, where they held a bilateral talkssession, during which they praised the course of friendship and cooperationbetween the two countries, and praised the progress made in bilateralcooperation between the two countries in various fields.
The two sides discussed regional and international issues of commonconcern, underscored their firm rejection of all forms of interference in theinternal affairs of states and the need for the international community to assumeits responsibilities towards preventing any attacks on the sovereignty ofstates. They also stressed Security Council Resolution 2254 on the situation inSyria.
They also stressed the importance of preserving the unity of Yemen,and achieving security and stability, and the importance of a politicalsolution to the Yemeni crisis on the basis of the Gulf Initiative, the outcomesof the Yemeni national dialogue, and Security Council Resolution 2216.
They also expressed their hope to achieve a just, comprehensive andlasting peace in Palestine in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative and therelevant UN resolutions to guarantee the legitimate rights of the Palestinianpeople and establish an independent state on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem asits capital.
The two sides stressed that extremism and terrorism are a threat toall peoples and societies, rejected any attempt to link this global phenomenonwith a particular race, religion or culture, and expressed their rejection ofall terrorist acts, stressing the need to prevent access to weapons, includingmissiles and drones, to commit acts of terrorism against other countries.
The Indian side condemned terrorist acts against civilian installations in Saudi Arabia and called for closer cooperation with the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Center and agreed to strengthen cooperation in combating terrorist operations, exchange information, build capacity and strengthen cooperation in combating transnational crimes within the framework of existing bilateral security cooperation.
The two sides noted the positive continuous economic transformationin both countries, stressing the importance of expanding trade and investmentties in order to push forward strategic cooperation, expressing their happinessfor the positive trend in bilateral trade over recent years, and reaffirmingthe further deepening of trade and investment cooperation between the twocountries under the vision 2030, the two sides urged the business community ofthe two countries to take advantage of investment opportunities in bothcountries, particularly in the areas of infrastructure, mining, energyincluding renewable energy sources, agriculture, technology transfer, and humanresources areas skilled in information technology, electronics andcommunications.
During the visit, a number of MoUs were signed in several areasincluding energy, civil aviation, medical product regulation, securitycooperation and defense and the launch of the RUPAY card to enhance cooperationin various sectors.
At the end of the visit, the Indian PM expressed his gratitude tothe Saudi Government and people for the hospitality extended to him as well ashis accompanying delegation.
He stressed India's welcome and support to the Kingdom'sforthcoming presidency of the G20 summit in 2020, and that he looks forward toparticipating in the upcoming summit of leaders of the Group of States to beheld in Riyadh, noting the Kingdom's efforts in the framework of the G20.
King Salman welcomed the invitation of the Indian PM to visit Indiato complete consultations and discuss issues of bilateral cooperation andregional and international issues of common interest to serve the interests ofthe two friendly countries and peoples.
