On the sidelines of his visit to Saudi Arabia for attending the first India-GCC Senior Officials Meeting, Dr. Ausaf Sayeed, Secretary (CPV & OIA) held wide-ranging bilateral meetings with his Saudi counterparts. The first round of the India-GCC Senior Officers Meeting was held earlier this week in Riyadh. The Indian delegation was led by Dr. Ausaf Sayeed.
On the political side, Secretary Dr. Ausaf held comprehensive consultations with Saudi Vice-minister of Foreign affairs, Eng. Waleed bin Abdulkarim Al-Khuraiji . They reaffirmed their commitment to the strong bilateral strategic partnership which transcends all key areas of cooperation including political, economic, defence, security, cultural and people to people ties. On the economic side, he met the Deputy Minister for International Partnerships in the Saudi Ministry of Investment, Mr. Mohammad Al Hassnah and discussed opportunities of bilateral investment exchanges. They discussed avenues to follow through the announcement, made during the previous visit of Crown Prince to India in 2019, of Saudi investments worth USD 100 Billion in the Indian economy. They also deliberated on forming an investment bridge for accelerating the pending investment projects and facilitating investors.
He also held a meeting with Dr. Faisal Al-Sugair, President and CEO, Saudi Centre for International Strategic Partnerships and discussed the progress made under the Committee on Economy and Investment of the Strategic Partnership Council. They agreed upon early conclusion of the priority opportunities identified under all four Joint Working Groups of the Economic Committee i.e. – I) Agriculture and Food Security JWG; II) Energy JWG; III) Technology and Information Technology JWG; IV) Industry and Infrastructure JWG.
Secretary (CPV& OIA) also called upon the Saudi Minister for Hajj & Umrah, Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah and reviewed the preparations for the visit of this year’s Hajj pilgrims from India. He also extended him the invitation, on behalf of Hon’ble Minister of Minority Affairs, to visit India at early convenience.
