Saudi Crown Prince orders release of 850 Indian prisoners at PM Modi’s request

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday ordered the release of 850 Indian prisoners lodged in its jails after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the decision was taken on the request of Modi. “Another big deliverable! At the request of the PM, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has ordered the release of 850 Indian prisoners lodged in Saudi jails,” he said in a tweet.

Another big deliverable!

At the request of the PM @narendramodi, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has ordered the release of 850 Indian prisoners lodged in Saudi jails. pic.twitter.com/jIVTCbIRLa

— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) February 20, 2019

He said Prince Mohammed has also announced an increase in the quota for Indian Haj pilgrims to 2 lakh at the request of Prime Minister Modi. The present quota is about 1.75 lakh.

Prince Mohammed had agreed to release more than 2,000 Pakistani prisoners in Saudi jails during his visit to Pakistan two days back.

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia sees an investment opportunity of USD 100 billion in India in various sectors, said visiting Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Wednesday in New Delhi.

Addressing the media along with Modi, the crown prince said Saudi Arabia has already invested USD 44 billion in India since the visit of 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.