Saudi prince to visit India on February 26

To strengthen bilateral relations between the two nations, Saudi Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister of the Kingdom of the Saudi Arabia will be on a three-day official visit to India from February 26, the Indian foreign ministry stated Friday. The ministry said the Saudi Crown Prince would be accompanied by a high-level delegation including cabinet ministers, senior officials and captains of industry during his visit. Moreover, the ministry said there has been significant progress in bilateral cooperation in key areas of mutual interest, including energy security, trade and infrastructure development projects between Saudi Arabia and India. During the visit, the Saudi Crown Prince would meet with President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "Saudi Arabia has become our 4th largest partner with bilateral trade in excess of USD 43 billion in 2012-13," the minsitry said in its press statement, adding, "Saudi Arabia is also India's largest crude oil supplier accounting for about one-fifth of our total imports in 2012-13. There are over 2.88 million Indian nationals presently working in Saudi Arabia."