New Delhi: India and Saudi Arabia agreed to accelerate the joint project of the West Coast oil refinery, even as they also talked about strengthening security cooperation to combat terrorism during discussions between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud on Monday, September 11.
The two leaders chaired the first meeting of the Strategic Partnership Council during the one-day state visit by the Saudi royal, who stayed on following the end of the G20 summit a day earlier.
At the start of the meeting, Modi described Saudi Arabia as one of India’s most important strategic partners. Last Saturday, India and Saudi Arabia were joined by the United States and the European Union in launching an ambitious plan for an economic corridor linking Indian ports through shipping and rail links to Europe via the Gulf region.
At a press briefing following the talks, MEA secretary (CPV) Ausaf Sayeed said leaders were looking forward to the early implementation of the West Coast refinery project for which funds worth $50 billion have been allotted.
“The two sides agreed to set up a joint task force to help in identifying and channelising the USD 100 billion investments which was promised by the Saudi side half of which was for the refinery,” he told reporters.
The joint statement issued after the talks said the “two sides agreed to develop joint projects to transform oil into petrochemicals in the two countries, and providing the necessary support, requirements and enablers to accelerate the project of West Coast Refinery”.
“The two sides agreed to explore investment opportunities in the field of fertilisers and intermediate, transformative and specialised petrochemicals in both countries,” it added.
In total, eight pacts were inked for cooperation in a range of areas including investment, digitisation, and saltwater desalinisation.
The Maharashtra-based West Coast refinery project, initially unveiled in 2015, is a joint project between ARAMCO, ADNOC, and Indian companies.
Both countries also agreed to establish a monitoring committee for tracking the progress of the refinery project, as per the senior Indian diplomat.
In the area of defence sector, India and Saudi Arabia “agreed on continuing to consider possibilities of joint development and production of defence equipment”.
It was also announced that they agreed on the “importance of cooperation to promote ways to ensure the security and safety of waterways and freedom of navigation in line with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)”.
Similarly, the two countries underlined the need to strengthen security cooperation in combating terrorism and its financing. “Both sides emphasised that terrorism, in all its forms, remains one of the gravest threats to humanity. They agreed that there cannot be any justification for any act of terror for any reason whatsoever. They rejected any attempt to link terrorism to any particular race, religion or culture. Both sides called on all States to reject the use of terrorism against other countries, dismantle terrorism infrastructure where it exists and bring perpetrators of terrorism to justice swiftly,” said the joint statement.
The document also referred to the need to “prevent access to weapons including missiles and drones to commit terrorist acts against other countries”. Saudi Arabia has been targeted by frequent missile and drone attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis after the Saudi-led military coalition intervened to remove the Yemeni government in 2015.
In his opening remarks, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed recognised the substantial impact of the Indian community residing in Saudi Arabia, comprising 7% of the Saudi population. He reiterated that Saudi Arabia considers them an integral component of the nation. “We consider them to be a part of Saudi Arabia. We watch and take care of them like we take care of our own citizens.”