RIYADH: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here today on a two-day visit to energy-powerhouse Saudi Arabia during which both countries are set to sign a raft of pacts to bolster their strategic partnership besides exploring ways to deepen security and counter-terror cooperation.
Modi was given a warm welcome at the ‘Royal Terminal’ of the Khalid International Airport with Governor of Riyadh Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, a key member of the Royal family, receiving him along with a number of high- ranking Saudi officials.
From the airport, located 35 kilometres north of Riyadh, the Prime Minister drove straight to the majestic and highly fortified King Saud Guest Palace in the heart of the city where Saudi King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud is hosting the Indian leader and his delegation. The entire complex has been elaborately decorated.
“Reached Saudi Arabia. I look forward to a productive visit that will strengthen our bilateral relations,” the Prime Minister tweeted in Arabic as well as in English just after his arrival.
In the last seven months, it is Modi’s second visit to the Gulf, a strategically important region which is home to over 8 million Indians and key to India’s energy security.
Combating threat of terrorism and radicalisation are expected to figure high on the agenda of talks between Modi and the leadership of Saudi Arabia, a country known as the spiritual home of Islam, which recently formed a major coalition of 34 Muslim nations to fight terror, particularly the ISIS.(Agencies)
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