Faheem Al-Hamid Okaz/Saudi Gazette NEW DELHI — Saudi Arabia and India's relationship was elevated to a Strategic Partnership following a historic visit of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to New Delhi in 2006 was followed by the visit of India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Riyadh in 2010. It was recently proved that Saudi Arabia and India's relationship has certainly withstood the test of time with the recent visit of Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz, Defense Minister and Deputy Premier, to India. I sat down with India's External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid last week to talk to him about the Crown Prince's historical visit and what lies ahead for both nations. With regards to the background of Saudi Arabia and India's excellent relations, how would you assess the outcome of the recent visit of Crown Prince Salman to India? India and Saudi Arabia share deep historical and cultural linkages. Each generation of our leadership and also people have contributed in strengthening our relationship. In recent years our two countries have remain engaged at the highest level. The visit of Custodian of Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to India in 2006 and the visit of Indian Prime Minister to the Kingdom in 2010 were landmark visits which heralded a new era of ‘Strategic Partnership'. The Riyadh Declaration and Delhi Declaration provided a clear roadmap for our engagement in political, security, defense and economic areas. I recall my call on Crown Prince Salman in May 2013 during my visit to the Kingdom. This is the first visit of Crown Prince Salman since he became the Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister. The visit has added content and substance in the bilateral relations especially in the field of defense and economy. A business delegation which is accompanying the delegation of Crown Prince held business interactions with their Indian counterparts. India has attached high importance to the visit, as it has come at a time when the two countries are engaging with each other on a number of issues of mutual concern and interest. What are the major issues that has been discussed between the Crown Prince and Indian officials during his visit? The two countries have similar interest in various issues of bilateral interest including economy and trade, security and defense, and issues of regional concern including fight against terrorism, piracy, etc... Both nations are cooperating on all these areas. I feel proud that India and Saudi Arabia have made significant progress on all areas of our Strategic Partnership. The two countries remain committed to enhance the business interaction and bilateral investments within the framework of Delhi Declaration 2006 and Riyadh Declaration of 2010. The people to people interaction and cultural relations between our two countries have enhanced considerably. Many Saudi students are looking at India as an education destination, while thousands of Saudi families are visiting India to take advantage of the benefits offered by medical tourism. India and Saudi Arabia have made significant progress in trade and commercial relations, which is an important part of Riyadh Declaration 2010. How do you view the progress made by the two sides in economic and commercial engagement? India and Saudi Arabia have shown remarkable growth in their economic relations, with bilateral trade doubling to $43 billion in 2012-13, from $23.1 billion in 2007-08. This is a major achievement, given the economic slowdown that the rest of the world has witnessed in recent years. However, the fact remains that despite our best efforts, our economic engagement continues to be one of a buyer-seller relationship. There is a gradual but steady shift. More and more Saudi businessmen and investors are viewing India as an attractive investment destination. A number of Saudi companies, including SABIC, has established its corporate offices in India. Similarly, many Indian companies are investing in the Saudi economy. As a result, we need to encourage our private sector to deepen their economic interaction. On the investment side, the potential for investment in India by Saudi Arabian companies, especially in infrastructure and energy sector, is huge. The recently concluded 10th session of the India Saudi Arabia Joint Commission Meeting has identified sectors for further exploring the avenues of possible cooperation. Syria has witnessed a lot of political turbulence and uncertainty with significant ramifications for the regional peace and stability. How do you think India could help in ending the ongoing conflict? The standard position that India holds on Syria is well known. We have said this at the UN. I think everyone accepts that in principle there shouldn't be an external dictation of how a country should rearrange itself. There are different ways of recognizing the aspirations and the opinions of the people themselves, and creating conditions conducive for their own good. We have remained consistent in this regard. We don't expect everybody to have exactly the same views. The objective may be common, but strategies and methodologies may vary from place to place. We support the objective but we only come on board to the extent of our capacity and in terms of our philosophy. Our objectives in Syria are that there must be free expression of the aspirations of the people and there must be an immediate cessation of violence. On this, we are very categorical. Our position is very clear. We support the UN effort and we support the Geneva effort. Terrorism is an important issue for India and receives a lot of attention in India. How do you think the two countries could effectively tackle this issue? India and Saudi Arabia have convergence of views on a number of issues including fight against global terrorism. This is a priority area in our relations and we have made significant progress. Terrorism is a global phenomenon and poses a grave challenge to our part of the world, in particular. During the meetings of King Abdullah and India's Prime Minister, the two leaders condemned the phenomena of terrorism, extremism and violence affirming that it is global and threatens all societies and is not linked to any race, color or belief. They called for the international community to resolutely combat terrorism. Both sides agreed to enhance cooperation in exchange of information relating to terrorist activities, money laundering, narcotics, arms and human trafficking, and develop joint strategies to combat these threats. We also signed the Extradition Treaty. India believes that stability of the Gulf region has direct implications for India. India has a lot of strategic interests in the Gulf region. It is home to 7 million Indian expatriate community, whose well being is a top priority for Indian Government. What is the Indian view towards retrieval of legitimate Palestinian rights? What is your vision with regard to Iranian interim nuclear agreement and how to resolve it? In our country the consensus on the Palestinian cause cuts across all political parties, regions, sections and communities. It is a truly national consensus for Palestine. Palestine has been central to our foreign policy as articulated by Jawaharlal Nehru. It has been a very important part of our history and of our foreign policy. India continues to remain steadfast and unwavering in its commitment to the Palestinian cause for a sovereign, independent, viable and united State of Palestine living within secure and recognized borders with East Jerusalem as its Capital, side by side and at peace with Israel as endorsed in the Quartet Roadmap and United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1397 & 1515. India-Pakistan relations faced issues last year with rising tensions at the border. What are India's expectations from the Nawaz Sharif-led Government in Islamabad? Has the Indian Prime Minister finalized dates for visit to Islamabad? India desires peaceful, friendly and cooperative relations with Pakistan. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh in his letter of congratulation to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on May 12, 2013, had reiterated our desire to work with the Pakistan government to chart a new course in bilateral ties. We are committed to addressing all outstanding issues between the two countries through a peaceful bilateral dialogue. However, for this dialogue to be meaningful we require an environment free from terror and violence. We have repeatedly called upon Pakistan to uphold the sanctity of the Line of Control (LoC), crack down on terrorist groups operating from its territories (as well as territories under its control) that continue to target India. It's also imperative that they move ahead with their investigation against those responsible for the Mumbai attacks. The way India handled the issue of Nitaqat (Saudization) was well appreciated by the authorities in the Kingdom. Are you worried about the impact of Saudization on Indian expatriate community and businesses in the Kingdom? Saudi Arabia is a sovereign country and a sovereign country decides on such matters based on their assessment of the domestic requirements. The Government of India is grateful to King Abdullah for announcing a grace period for the Nitaqat policy, which benefited over 1.4 million Indian workers. I don't see any negative repercussion of the implementation of Saudization for Indians or for the Indian business community.
