Saudi Arabia Crown Prince announces five times more investment in India than Pakistan

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia will invest 100 billion dollars in India in a range of areas including energy, refining, petrochemicals, infrastructure, agriculture, and manufacturing. “Big announcement - Saudi Arabia to invest $100 billion in India - a huge vote of confidence in the Indian economy,” tweeted Raveesh Kumar, Spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs. Addressing the media along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday said Saudi Arabia has already invested USD 44 billion in India since the visit of PM Modi in 2016 to the Gulf nation.

He also lauded India's strength in the information technology (IT) and said Saudi Arabia too was investing a lot in the sector.

"We understand that there are opportunities for more than USD 100 billion investment in India...We want to strengthen investment and economic ties to ensure useful returns for both countries," the crown prince said. He informed that Saudi Arabia has invested in India in petrochemicals and diversifying into other sectors.

"We want to increase cooperation with India as it will give a new direction to our relationship," he said. Later TS Tirumurti, Secretary (ER) in Ministry of External Affairs, told reporters that there is a commitment by Saudi Arabia to invest USD 100 billion in sectors like energy, petrochemicals and manufacturing.

When asked by when investments would be made, the Secretary said there was no timeline.

The crown prince arrived in Delhi on a less than 30-hour visit Tuesday night, a day after concluding his high-profile tour of Pakistan where he said dialogue was the only way to resolve "outstanding issues" between India and Pakistan.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia signed agreements worth USD 20 billion which will provide a welcome relief to the teetering economy of the cash-strapped South Asian country.