Jaishankar exchanges views on developments in Afghanistan with Saudi counterpart
Sep 19, 2021
New Delhi [India], September 19 : External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday met Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud here and exchanged views on the developments in Afghanistan and other regional issues.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs statement, Jaishankar met Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.
"Both Ministers exchanged views on the developments in Afghanistan and other regional issues. They also discussed bilateral cooperation in multilateral forums such as the UN, G-20 and GCC. EAM congratulated Saudi Arabia on its successful Presidency of G-20 last year despite the Covid-19 pandemic," read the statement.
This is the first ministerial visit from Saudi Arabia to India since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Prince Faisal bin Farhan is on a three-day visit to New Delhi.
Both ministers discussed all issues related to their bilateral relationship and regional and international issues of mutual interest.
"The two Ministers reviewed the implementation of the Strategic Partnership Council Agreement signed between the two sides during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Saudi Arabia in October 2019. They expressed satisfaction at the meetings held under the Agreement and progress achieved. Both sides discussed further steps to strengthen their partnership in trade, investment, energy, defence, security, culture, consular issues, health care and human resources," the statement said.
The statement further said that EAM appreciated Saudi Arabia for the support provided to the Indian community during the Covid-19 pandemic and urged Saudi Arabia to further relax restrictions on travel from India.
