India and Saudi Arabia are expected to develop an action plan to strengthen bilateral cooperation in various sectors and projects, including a West Coast refinery project, an official statement said on Saturday.
The issue will be addressed during a meeting between Saudi Arabia’s Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman and Energy Minister Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry, on September 18-19.
They will co-chair the Economic and Investment Committee’s first ministerial meeting.
The two ministers are expected to discuss progress made under the Economic and Investment Commission’s various joint working groups, the Commerce Department said.
“Both sides will formulate an action plan to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in a series of priority areas and projects, including West Coast refinery projects, transocean grid connections, green hydrogen, food security, energy security and pharmaceuticals. It is expected,” he said.
He added that it could also accelerate progress on the announcement that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who visited India in February 2019, had invested in India worth US$100 billion.
The commission, it said, is one of two ministerial levels established under the framework of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council, which is headed at the highest level by the Prime Minister of India and the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
India is Saudi Arabia’s second largest trading partner and Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth largest trading partner.
India’s imports from Saudi Arabia will reach US$34 billion in 2021-2022, while exports total US$8.8 billion.
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