New Delhi: Saudi Arabia and India have “upgraded” their cooperation in the field of energy by inking a comprehensive energy partnership that covers renewable energy, energy efficiency, hydrogen electricity and investments in petroleum reserves, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Monday.
The energy pact is one of eight agreements signed by Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the former’s state visit to India. The two leaders chaired the first leaders’ summit of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council Monday, during which trade in local currencies was also discussed.
Other agreements signed cover digitalisation and electronic manufacturing, desalination, cooperation between India’s Central Vigilance Commission and Saudi Arabia’s Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority, and cooperation between export import (EXIM) banks of India and Saudi, among other things.
“Both sides agreed to upgrade the energy partnership into a comprehensive energy partnership which would be investment in strategic petroleum reserves, downstream petrochemicals and this refinery project,” Ausaf Sayeed, secretary (CPV & OIA) at the Ministry of External Affairs, told reporters, adding that the pact was signed by Saudi Minister of Energy Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud and India’s Minister of New and Renewable Energy R.K. Singh.
Discussions at the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council also revolved around optical fibre networks, Sayeed said.
The meeting comes as Saudi Arabia has started to re-emerge as India’s top supplier of oil. In August, India saw a 63 per cent increase month-on-month in its oil imports from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which is believed to have replaced the decline seen in oil imports from Russia.
Earlier, Saudi Arabia and India made waves during the G20 Summit held in Delhi over the weekend after Modi announced an India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor. Countries involved in this corridor include India, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, France, Germany, Italy and the EU. It is widely seen as a challenge to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
During his remarks to the media, Sayeed said this project does not seek to single out any one country but is a partnership among “like-minded” nations.
First set up in 2019, the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council is aimed at increasing cooperation between the two countries in critical areas. The pact to institute it was signed during Modi’s visit to Saudi Arabia in October 2019.
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Talks on ‘expediting’ West Coast refinery project in Maharashtra
A major outcome of the first leaders’ summit of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council Monday was on setting up a joint task force to help identify and channelise investments worth $100 billion, half of which has been earmarked for the West Coast refinery project in Maharashtra.
This project was first announced in December 2015.
Asked why the project was delayed, Sayeed cited the Covid-19 pandemic as one of the factors and reiterated that talks today were aimed at overcoming other snags.
“The whole idea was to set up a joint working group or committee that could go into all facets and see ways or means of expediting. Both sides are very keen that this is realised sooner than later and the approach was forward-looking,” he said
The two sides also agreed to set up a monitoring committee to ensure the progress in refinery projects are done according to the plans laid out, he added.
The next meeting of the Strategic Partnership Council is slated to be held in Riyadh next year.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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