India and Saudi Arabia on Sunday reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral ties and the current situation in Afghanistan during External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s talks with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.
The two leaders also took stock of the situation in the Gulf and the Indo-Pacific during the extensive talks besides India urging early resumption of flights to Saudi Arabia, the External Affairs Ministry (MEA) said later.
The visiting dignitary will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday before ending his three-day visit to New Delhi. Al Saud arrived here on Saturday evening. It is the first ministerial visit from Saudi Arabia to India since the outbreak of the pandemic.
Given the strong ties between the two countries, the two Foreign Ministers, meanwhile, also explored ways to further expand bilateral ties in areas of Defence and security, trade, investment and energy. Incidentally, Army chief General MM Naravane became the first Indian Army head ever to visit Saudi Arabia last year, thereby signifying the growing relations between the nations.
On the talks between Jaishankar and Al Saud, sources said the former called for further relaxing restrictions on travel from India to the Gulf nation while appreciating the country for the support provided to the Indian community during the pandemic.
The MEA said both Ministers discussed issues related to their bilateral relationship and regional and international issues of mutual interest.
“The two Ministers reviewed the implementation of the ‘Strategic Partnership Council Agreement’ signed between the two sides during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Saudi Arabia in October 2019,” the MEA said.
The two sides also discussed bilateral cooperation in multilateral forums such as the United Nations, G-20 and Gulf Cooperation Council.
“The External Affairs Minister congratulated Saudi Arabia on its successful presidency of G-20 last year despite the Covid-19 pandemic,” the MEA said.
The visit by the Saudi Foreign Minister came at a time India has been engaged with all leading powers on the developments in Afghanistan.
Being a major regional player, Saudi Arabia’s position on the developments in Kabul assumes significance as several countries in the Gulf region, including Qatar and Iran, were playing a role in the Afghan peace process before the Taliban’s capture of power.
In the Gulf region, India is in touch with the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Iran over the unfolding developments in Afghanistan. In reflection of India’s views on the matter, Modi on Friday said the global community should decide “collectively” and “thoughtfully” on according recognition to the new set-up in Afghanistan in view of questions over its acceptability as the change of power was not “inclusive”.
He made the remarks during a virtual address at a meeting on Afghanistan of the heads of state of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation.
