India-Saudi Arabia Joint Statement Denounces Terrorism As State Policy; Gulf Nation To Invest $100 Billion In India

Saudi Arabia, during the visit of its Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to New Delhi on Wednesday (20 February), committed to invest $100 billion in various sectors in India.

You can also read this in Hindi- “आतंकवाद न हो राज्य की नीति”: सऊदी अरब-भारत साथ, 1 खरब डॉलर का निवेश भी

Salman, during his joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said his country sees an investment opportunity of $100 billion in India in various sectors. He said that Saudi Arabia has already invested $44 billion in India since the visit of Modi in 2016 to the gulf nation.

The Crown Prince also praised India’s prowess in the field of Information Technology (IT) and said that Saudi Arabia has made a lot of investment in the sector.

"We understand that there are opportunities for more than $100 billion investment in India...We want to strengthen investment and economic ties to ensure useful returns for both countries," Salman was quoted in the report as saying.

"We want to increase cooperation with India as it will give a new direction to our relationship," he said.

According to the report, secretary (economic relations) in Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) T S Tirumurti later informed the reporters that there is a commitment by Saudi Arabia to invest $100 billion in sectors like energy, petrochemicals and manufacturing.

Furthermore, in what could be viewed as a veiled reference to Pakistan, a joint statement by both countries called for a conducive atmosphere for talks by “comprehensive sanctioning of terrorists and their organisations by the UN” and renouncing of “terrorism as an instrument of state policy”, reports The Tribune.

The joint statement also called on all states to reject the use of terrorism against other countries; dismantle terrorism infrastructures and bring perpetrators of acts of terrorism to justice.