Saudi Arabia wants closer ties with India

ALIGARH: Saudi Arabia is keen on intensifying bilateral cooperation with India in the fields of education and culture, the country's ambassador to India, Saud Mohammed al-Sati, said here today.

"Relations between India and Saudi Arabia go back several centuries in time," he said at Aligarh Muslim University.

"The exchanges between the two countries in the fields of education and culture have increased over the years, but they still have not reached their full potential and the government of Saudi Arabia is keen to intensify the bilateral cooperation with India in this field," he said.

Al-Sati also said, "Our economic and trade relations have registered remarkable growth in recent years. Saudi Arabia is now the fourth largest trade partner of India, while Arabia is the sixth largest market in the world for Indian exports."

Saudi Arabia has been the largest source of crude oil to India for many years, meeting 20 per cent of India's oil imports at present, he said.

"As ambassador of Saudi Arabia to India, it will be my endeavour to accelerate the exchanges and collaboration between Saudi universities and Indian Institutions in general and the Aligarh Muslim University in particular," he said.