Jaishankar to visit Saudi Arabia on Sept 10

This will be his first visit to the Kingdom as EAM.

During the visit the Minister will co-chair the inaugural Ministerial Meeting of the Committee on Political, Security, Social and Cultural Cooperation (PSSC), established under the framework of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council, with the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

The two Ministers will undertake a comprehensive review of the entire bilateral relationship and will discuss the progress under the four Joint Working Groups of the PSSC Committee namely Political and Consular, Legal and Security, Social and Cultural and Joint Committee on Defence Cooperation, the Ministry added.

The meetings of these Groups and Senior Officials (at Secretary level) have been held over the past few months.

Both sides will also discuss regional and international issues of mutual interest including their cooperation at the UN, G20 and GCC, the Ministry added.

During the visit S Jaishankar will also meet other Saudi dignitaries as well as Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Dr Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf.

Both sides will review the bilateral relations and discuss ways to enhance them.

The Ministry will also interact with the Indian community in Saudi Arabia.

India-Saudi Arabia relations have strengthened considerably over the past few years including in political, security, energy, trade, investment, health, food security, cultural and defence fields.

The top leadership of both countries remained in close touch even during the Covid pandemic.