Thaindian News

New Delhi, April 12 (IANS) Saudi Arabia’s Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, who is on a five-day visit to India, Monday invited Indian businesses to invest in his country to boost “excellent” bilateral ties.
Prince Salman, who belongs to the Saudi royal family and is governor of the Saudi capital Riyadh, arrived here Sunday. He met President Pratibha Patil and Vice President Hamid Ansari here Monday.

In his meeting with Ansari, Prince Salman emphasized the need for “increasing economic and business interaction to promote greater mutual investments”, according to a statement from the ministry of external affairs.

Prince Salman invited Indian business leaders to explore the Saudi market and acknowledged the “stellar contribution made by the Indian community in the economic development of Saudi Arabia”.

Saudi Arabia is an important trading and energy partner of India, with bilateral trade in 2008-09 crossing $25 billion.

The two countries have forged a strategic partnership pursuant to the historic visits of King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz to India in 2006, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Saudi Arabia this year.

Vice President Ansari and Prince Salman in their talks “underscored the excellent state of bilateral relations, marked by historic and strong ties that are a part of our history and culture”, the statement said.

“Given our common interests and concerns, our capabilities and needs, the two countries are poised for a qualitatively substantive and stronger relationship. Saudi Arabia figured prominently in India’s energy security matrix,” Ansari said in his interaction with the Saudi prince.

The two leaders reiterated that “extremism and terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations, are inherently destructive and must be fought irrespective of their source with all available means”, the statement added.

Prince Salman also addressed the leaders of the Indian business community at a luncheon meeting and urged them to explore possibilities for trade and investment in the kingdom.

The Riyadh governor is heading a high-level delegation, which includes Prince Faisal bin Salman, chairman of Saudi Research and Marketing Group; Riyadh Mayor Prince Abdul Aziz bin Ayyaf Al-Muqrin; and Abdul Rahman Al-Jeraisy, chairman of Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry.