Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to reschedule India visit

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's planned stopover in India on Monday has been cancelled because of scheduling issues arising from the upcoming G20 Summit in Indonesia, according to officials, who said new dates will be decided soon.

Salman had planned to stop in India for a few hours on his way to Bali for the November 15-16 G20 Summit. ET has learnt that both sides were facing scheduling issues on account of the Summit.

Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Salman--who has emerged as an undisputed leader in the Kingdom and ushered in reforms--will be attending the G20 Summit, but it is unclear whether they will meet there.


Also deferred is a high-level business meeting that was to be held on Sunday between the delegations of the two nations.

Salman's proposed India visit follows the invitation extended to him by foreign minister S Jaishankar in September. Salman and Modi share good relations, which has helped bolster ties between the two nations.

Saudi Arabia is India's fourth-largest trading partner. It accounts for more than 18% of India's crude oil imports. In the nine months to December 2021, bilateral trade between the two countries was valued at $29.28 billion.

Amid the current geopolitical tensions, India sees Saudi Arabia as a reliable supplier of fossil fuel. The Middle East nation had refused to toe the US line when the OPEC+ (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) group of oil producers decided to cut petroleum production from November.

Like India, Riyadh has refused to take sides in the Ukraine conflict, despite pressure from the West.