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With the historical visit of the Saudi
Arabia King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz al
Saud to India, the two countries are
expected to sign three major
agreements on terrorism, trade, and
investments. The Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh invited USD 150 billion
Saudi investments in infrastructure
especially in power, telecom,
airports, and railways. India is Saudi
Arabia’s fourth largest trading
partner valued at USD 8.8 billion in
2004. 50 joint ventures companies
operated in India and the Saudi
Government has approved 82 Indian
companies to operate in that country.
Abdullah has called for a fight
against terror “regardless of faith”
and for “as long as it takes.” On the
business side, he wanted to move his
country’s “special relationship” India
forward so the benefits of partnership
to result in global spin-offs. He
invited Indian investments in
Information Technology, Agriculture,
Telecom, energy, and power. Calling
India his “second home,” Abdullah
raised the quota for Indian Haj
pilgrims to 147,000 and said India had
one of the most pilgrims visiting his
country. Reliance Industries announced
that it would invest USD 8 billion in
a refinery and petrochemical project
in Saudi Arabia.
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