New Delhi: Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, who arrived in New Delhi on Friday to attend the 18th G20 Leaders' Summit, is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House today.
Prior to the meeting, a ceremonial welcome for the Crown Prince will take place at Rashtrapati Bhawan at 10 a.m.
Salman will meet Indian President Droupadi Murmu, at the Rashtrapati Bhawan at around 6:30 pm, the Indian ministry said in a statement.
“His Royal Highness earlier visited India on a State Visit in February 2019, and this will be his second State Visit to India. He will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, including Ministers and senior officials," the statement added.
He is also expected to sign the minutes of the first meeting of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council at Hyderabad House around 12 p.m.
"They will review the progress made under the two Ministerial Committees of the Strategic Partnership Council i.e. the Committee on Political, Security, Social and Cultural Cooperation and the Committee on Economy and Investments Cooperation," the statement further said.
“During this visit, he will attend the G20 Summit being hosted in India on September 9-10, 2023 and will continue his stay in India on September 11, 2023, for the State visit," the Ministry of External Affairs had said in a statement earlier.
During the bilateral meeting, the crown prince and PM Modi will discuss all aspects of bilateral relations including political, security, defence, trade, and economic, cultural, and people-to-people ties.
The foreign ministry statement also mentioned that trade between India and Saudi Arabia reached an all-time high of $52.75 billion in FY 2022-23.
During the G20 Summit in India's capital New Delhi on Saturday and Sunday, Saudi Arabia, the United States, and others signed a pact for building a major railway and port project to connect the Middle East with India and Europe.
PM Modi along with US President Joe Biden, Saudi Crown Prince and EU leaders had made the announcement for the new project on the sidelines of the summit.
On Saturday, US Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer said that a memorandum of understanding would be inked to "explore a shipping and rail transportation (project) that will enable the flow of commerce, energy, and data from here in India across the Middle East to Europe."
The Crown Prince will depart the country at around 8:30 p.m.