Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake a visit to Saudi Arabia from April 22 to 23 at the invitation of Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Friday.
This marks Modi’s first visit to the kingdom in his third term as Prime Minister. He had previously visited Saudi Arabia in 2016 and again in 2019.
The visit follows the State Visit of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to New Delhi in September 2023, where he co-chaired the inaugural meeting of the India–Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council during the G20 Summit.
India and Saudi Arabia enjoy close and longstanding ties, underpinned by deep socio-cultural and trade links. The two countries have forged a strong strategic partnership that encompasses a wide array of sectors, including political dialogue, defence and security cooperation, trade and investment, energy, technology, healthcare, education, culture, and people-to-people ties.
“The visit of PM Modi reflects the importance India attaches to its bilateral relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the MEA said. “It will provide an opportunity to further deepen and strengthen our multi-faceted partnership, as well as to exchange views on various regional and international issues of mutual interest.”
The visit comes at a time of heightened diplomatic activity in West Asia, with the United States and Iran engaged in talks over Tehran’s nuclear programme, and continuing tensions in the region due to the Hamas-Israel conflict. Modi’s visit also precedes a scheduled visit by US President Donald Trump to Saudi Arabia next month.
Diplomatic ties between India and Saudi Arabia were established in 1947 and were upgraded to a Strategic Partnership in 2010. There has been a steady stream of high-level exchanges between the two sides. From early 2024 to date, there have been 11 ministerial-level visits from India to Saudi Arabia. Notably, the Saudi Foreign Minister and the Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources visited India in November 2024 and February 2025 respectively.
Saudi Arabia extended significant support during ‘Operation Kaveri’ by facilitating the evacuation of Indian nationals from Sudan via Jeddah. The Kingdom also hosts the headquarters of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), with which India shares warm relations. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar visited Riyadh in September 2024 to co-chair the first India–GCC Ministerial Meeting.
On the economic front, Saudi Arabia is India’s fifth largest trading partner, while India is the Kingdom’s second largest trading partner. In the financial year 2023–24, bilateral trade stood at USD 42.98 billion, with India’s exports amounting to USD 11.56 billion and imports from the Kingdom totalling USD 31.42 billion.
India exports engineering goods, rice, petroleum products, chemicals, textiles, food items, and ceramic tiles to Saudi Arabia, while importing crude oil, LPG, fertilisers, chemicals, and plastic products. Saudi Arabia was India’s third-largest supplier of crude oil and LPG in 2023–24, accounting for 14.3 per cent of India’s total crude imports and 18.2 per cent of LPG imports.
Investment links have also strengthened, with Indian investment in Saudi Arabia reaching around USD 3 billion by August 2023. Saudi investment in India has touched approximately USD 10 billion across sectors such as consultancy services, construction, telecommunications, IT, financial services, pharmaceuticals, and software development.
Defence cooperation has witnessed a boost, with the first ministerial-level visit in over 12 years when then Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt visited Riyadh for the World Defence Show in February 2024. The two nations have conducted two editions of the joint naval exercise ‘Al Mohed Al Hindi’, and continue collaboration in defence industries and capacity building.
The Indian diaspora in Saudi Arabia, numbering approximately 2.7 million, plays a vital role in the Kingdom’s development and serves as a key link between the two nations. Over the past year alone, nearly one lakh Indian nationals migrated to Saudi Arabia for employment.
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