PM Modi Visits Saudi Arabia: A Look Back at India’s Historic Ties with the Kingdom:

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi commenced a two-day official trip to Saudi Arabia, further strengthening the comprehensive and multifaceted partnership between the two countries. Exiting from Saudi Arabia, PM Modi emphasized the strategic timeline India, and Saudi Arabia have developed over the years in relation to defense, trade, energy, and even cultural alliances.

Defining the Multi-Pillar Strategic Partnership Framework between India and Saudi Arabia, he said it combines the five pillars of security, trade and investment, innovation, culture and tourism.

Addressing the relationship between Saudi and India, PM Modi labelled it as ‘multidimensional and mutually beneficial’ further elaborating by accentuating the shared goals for promoting peace, security, and prosperity throughout the region. The Prime Minister was paying his third visit to the Gulf country, and this was his first visit to Jeddah.

The willingness to host the Prime Minister's visit confirms the closest political and personal ties between the two leaders. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gave the invitation.

And the Congress makes a reminder of the age-old bonds.

The visit prompted Indian National Congress to highlight the long Indo-Saudi relationship by sharing some footage and facts, including the first state visit of the then Saudi King to India in 1955, followed by Jawaharlal Nehru's return visit to the kingdom in 1956.

King Saud Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud visited India in 1955 for a period of 17 days; his trip included stops at New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Mysuru, Hyderabad, Agra, Aligarh and Varanasi. Ramesh also discussed the uncommon conjunction of overlapping international relations with the Saud’s visit, noting that Soviet Union leaders Nikita Khrushchev and Nikolai Bulganin were concurrently visiting India on the same dates.

As the Prime Minister begins his visit to Saudi Arabia it is worthwhile recalling the first visit of the Saudi King to India that took place in Nov-Dec 1955.

King Saud Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was in India for 17 days between Nov 26th and Dec 13th 1955, visiting New Delhi, Mumbai,… pic.twitter.com/Fk90JeflHd
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) April 22, 2025

Nehru’s return diplomatic trip to Saudi Arabia came a year later on the 24th of September and ended on the 28th, cementing Saudi-India diplomatic relations during the initial phases of India’s foreign policy outreach post independence.

Deepening Contemporary Relations

At present, the partnership between India and Saudi Arabia is still developing with high levels of collaboration on defence and technology. Both countries have advanced their cooperation in the domains of energy security, infrastructure development, technology and defense. The Indian diaspora residing in Saudi Arabia strengthens Saudi-Indian relations through remittances and cultural exchange.