India, Saudi Ink Strategic Agreements

Saudi is fourth country with whom India has an inter-govt partnership

- Geeta Mohan in Riyadh

India and Saudi Arabia on Tuesday inked agreements in several key sectors including oil and gas, defence and civil aviation to bolster their ties as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held extensive talks Saudi King Salman.

This is a major development since Saudi Arabia is now only the fourth country with whom India has an intergovernmental mechanism headed by the Prime Minister. Germany, Russia and Japan are the other three.

Apart from the formation of a council, the two sides also stressed on energy security and “Strategic Petroleum Reserves” (SPRs). ISPRL (Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited) signed an agreement with Saudi Aramco to lease part of the 2.5 million-tonne Padur storage, in southern Karnataka state.

Indian Oil Corp signed a preliminary deal with Saudi Arabia’s’ Al Jeri company for cooperation in the downstream sector, including setting up fuel stations in the kingdom.