WORLD NEWS | We have many plans with India in energy sector: Saudi energy minister

Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), February 20 (ANI): Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, said on Monday that Saudi Arabia has worked closely with India on many plans in the energy sector, These plans will be announced shortly.

The minister made the statement to ANI during the two-day second Saudi Media Forum, which kicked off in the capital Riyadh with more than 1,500 media professionals and industry leaders from Arab and foreign countries to discuss challenges and opportunities in the media industry.

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Asked about Saudi Arabia’s plans with India in the energy sector, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told ANI: “We have a lot of plans with India in the energy sector and we will see soon. .”

Prince Salman’s statement comes four months after visiting India and meeting senior Indian officials as the kingdom strengthens energy ties with Asia’s second-largest economy.

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The energy minister visited New Delhi for a day last October and held talks with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh, Power Minister Raj Kumar Singh and several Indian business leaders.

There are rumors that the coast of India’s Gujarat state may soon be connected to the Middle East via deep-sea cables to create a renewable energy network as Saudi Arabia and India expand their energy ties.

In early September, Saleh bin Eid Al-Hussaini, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to India, vowed to promote and strengthen relations between Riyadh and New Delhi during his tenure.

Husseini once said that this move will help accelerate the development of India-Saudi Arabia mutually beneficial partnership and strengthen the friendly bond between the two peoples.

The partnership between Saudi Arabia and India reached new heights during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to New Delhi in February 2019. In October 2019, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Kingdom and the two countries established a strategic partnership committee.

In September, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said that India and Saudi Arabia are important players in the emerging multipolar world order and that the two countries are cooperating in multiple fields.

He also said that India and Saudi Arabia are major economies that play an important role in shaping the global economy.

The minister said that India and Saudi Arabia are important economic partners with a trade value of about $42.86 billion in the current fiscal (April 2021-March 2022).

Energy plays a crucial role in the trade relationship between India and Saudi Arabia, as New Delhi imports about 18% and 22% of its crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas needs, respectively, from Saudi Arabia.

Relations between Saudi Arabia and India have historically been strong for decades. Indians are the kingdom’s largest community of foreign workers and one of the country’s largest sources of inward remittances.

In the first few years, Saudi Arabia’s trade relationship with India was mainly limited to the energy sector, but now, the two countries have expanded their trade relationship to other areas, including security, investment, health, food safety and culture. (Arnie)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)