India, Saudi Arabia to boost defence ties

The Saudi king left Beijing yesterday for a four-day official visit to India where he will hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today.

This is the first visit to India by a Saudi monarch in half a century and the significance attached to the event, the Indian prime minister will receive the visiting King at the airport when he arrives here from Beijing.

The Saudi monarch, who will be the chief guest at India's Republic Day parade on January 26, will also have talks with Indian President A P J Abdul Kalam, Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the Leader of the Opposition L K Advani.

During the Saudi King's visit, India and Saudi Arabia are expected to sign agreements on combating terrorism jointly and a convention on avoidance of double taxation and prevention of tax evasion.

The agreement on terrorism is aimed at bilateral cooperation in tackling the menace as well as crimes perpetrated by individuals, illicit narcotic trafficking and smuggling of historic artifacts.

The double taxation avoidance accord is expected to give a fillip to two-way flow of investment, technology and services. The total India-Saudi bilateral trade in 2004-5 (excluding oil import) is estimated at 2,643.37 million dollars and India is the fourth largest trading partner of Saudi Arabia.

Indian companies have set up 82 fully-owned Indian entities in Saudi Arabia and there are around 49 Indo-Saudi joint ventures in India.