Going by the joint communique issued at the end of the three-day visit of Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, deputy premier and minister of defense, to India last week, Indo-Saudi relations are now on an even keel. The communique calls for encouraging businessmen to boost investments and take advantage of investment opportunities available in the two countries, especially in infrastructure and technology transfer. The two sides agreed on the need to increase cooperation in information technology, electronics and communications. They also expressed satisfaction over the progress in defense cooperation, especially in training and exchange of skills. In this context, the two sides welcomed the signing this week by Riyadh and New Delhi of a memorandum of understanding on military cooperation. More important, they reiterated their commitment to fight terrorism, extremism and violence in any form. An important characteristic of the Indo-Saudi relationship is the dominance of trade and business. Saudi Arabia ranks as India's fourth largest trading partner with a bilateral trade amounting to $43 billion in 2012-13, from $23.1 billion in 2007-08, dominated by crude oil imports. Joint ventures and investments form an important component of commercial relations. The Indian labor force (2.88 million, according to one estimate) in the Kingdom and Saudi Arabia's petroleum reserves are the mainstay of a growing bilateral relationship. More and more Saudi businessmen and investors are viewing India as an attractive investment destination. Saudi Arabia is also India's largest crude oil supplier accounting for about one-fifth of the country's total petroleum imports in 2012-13. Although India and Saudi Arabia have deep historical and cultural links, the relationship between them somehow lacked a strategic or political depth. Rightly or wrongly, the Indian establishment felt that Saudi Arabia was looking at New Delhi through the Pakistani prism. It was after the January 2006 visit to India by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah as part of a four-country tour that things and perceptions began to change. It was the first visit to India by a Saudi ruler in 50 years. The Delhi Declaration signed during King Abdullah's visit invested the Indo-Saudi relations with a broad strategic vision. This was followed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the Kingdom in 2010. The Delhi Declaration and the Riyadh Declaration signed during Singh's visit to the Kingdom provided a clear road map for Indo-Saudi engagement in political, security, defense and economic spheres. Both documents served as a major building block for the bilateral relationship, which has since expanded to include important security-related issues. The Riyadh Declaration set the stage for actual counter-terrorism cooperation, as well as the signing of a separate extradition treaty. Earlier this year the two countries boosted defense ties and further strengthened counter-terrorism coordination when Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony visited the Kingdom. Though oil remains the lifeline of this relationship, recent developments should be seen as part of a wider endeavor by both Riyadh and New Delhi to widen the scope of their cooperation to include issues once considered unthinkable. The very fact that on Wednesday, the first day of the Crown Prince's visit, the two sides signed a defense cooperation pact shows how far the relationship has moved from traditional areas of trade and business. One point is worth mentioning in this context. India is just weeks away from general elections. A new party or combination of parties with an entirely new ideology may come to power after the elections. Still the Saudi Crown Prince chose to travel to India. This means that Indo-Saudi friendship has reached a stage where it can withstand the vicissitudes of political changes in New Delhi. India has vital interests, both economic and strategic, in the Gulf. The stability of the Gulf region, of which Saudi Arabia is the most important part, has direct bearing on India. It is also home to a 7 million-strong Indian expatriate community. Let us hope that the Crown Prince's visit will carry forward the momentum witnessed in Indo-Saudi relations in recent years.
