“For the first time in almost 30 years, the Prime Minister of India visited Saudi Arabia from Feb. 27 to March 1,” according to Matthew Weigand writing in Asia-Pacific Business and Technology Report. “Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke at length with King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz about security, economic, energy and defense issues. By the end of the visit, they had signed 10 different agreements. This is the result of negotiations that began with the king’s visit to India in 2006, where he spoke about creating comprehensive ties between the two countries and was honored as the chief guest at the Republic Day parade in New Delhi. With Prime Minister Singh’s visit, the ties are realized.”
PM Singh also raised the issue of Indian-Pakistani relations with his Saudi hosts, especially the challenge of countering terrorism in the subcontinent. This VOA report touches on that aspect of the dialogue between Singh and Saudi leaders.
From VOA:
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, last week asked Saudi Arabia to try to influence Pakistan to crack down on anti-Indian terrorists in Pakistan. For years, India has insisted on dealing directly with Pakistan, but Saudi Arabia has close ties to Pakistan. VOA’s Ravi Khanna spoke to analysts in Washington about the Saudi-Pakistani connection and what it means for India’s relations with Pakistan.
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