RIYADH — Strengthening strategic bilateral relationship between India and Saudi Arabia, Indian Coast Guard ship ‘Samudra Paheredar' (Guard of Seas) recently arrived at King Abdul Aziz Port at Dammam, Saudi Arabia on a three-day visit. Indian Ambassador Dr. Ausaf Sayeed, number of distinguished guests from the Royal Saudi Navy and Coast Guard, along with members of international community, members of the Indian Diaspora and schoolchildren visited the ship during its port call. The visit aims at enhancing cooperation and understanding between important navies of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Ambassador Dr. Ausaf Sayeed noted that, "The goodwill visit aims to promote and further 'defense cooperation' with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and serves as part of India's strategic outreach and offshore deployment." He said, "India and Saudi Arabia enjoy cordial and friendly relations, reflecting centuries old economic and socio-cultural ties. The Indian community in Saudi Arabia is one of the largest expatriate community in the Kingdom and the ‘most preferred' due to their expertise, sense of discipline, and law abiding nature." He asserted that the increased frequency of ship visits and the assistance provided by the Kingdom in facilitating these visits is noteworthy. The historic visit of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman to India as the Crown Prince in 2014, visit of the Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman to India in February 2019 and our prime minister's to Saudi Arabia in April 2016 and October 2019 have been important milestones towards expanding the strategic partnership. The defense relations constitute a significant element of the shared strategic vision for the region and the regular visits by Indian Navy ships and Indian Coast Guard ships is testimony to the strong ties with the Kingdom, the Indian mission statement said. The visit of these naval ships will assist in promoting understanding and furthering interoperability between the two navies. Ship visits are symbolic of India's desire to enhance cooperation with the Kingdom in matters of defense. Indian Naval and Coast Guard assets have been increasingly deployed in recent times to address the main maritime concerns of the region. In addition, they have also been involved in assisting countries in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) with hydrographic survey, search and rescue and other such capacity building and capability-enhancement activities. The current voyage will contribute positively towards efforts to consolidate Inter-Operability and forge strong bonds of friendship across the seas. The ambassador added, "India looks forward to further these defense cooperation mechanisms. The current visit seeks to underscore India's peaceful presence and solidarity with friendly countries of the Indian Ocean and, in particular, to strengthen the existing bonds between India and Saudi Arabia." Bilateral trade between the countries has shown remarkable growth and has registered substantial increase in recent times. The Haj pilgrimage is another important component of the bilateral relations with over 2,00,000 Indians performing Haj every year. Building upon the rich and longstanding relations that have existed between India and Saudi Arabia, both nations have developed warm relations in several spheres. Saudi Arabia and India have embarked on a well charted journey towards enhancing the bilateral relations in multifarious fields some of which include exploring trade and business opportunities, infrastructure development, commerce, medical research, people to people exchanges in pursuit of cultural revelation, defense cooperation and military training.
