The civilian and military leaders will witness the ongoing military exercise “North Thunder” and its closing ceremony. It was, however, not clear if the two will travel together, but their itineraries do not match.
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Modi is to start a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia on 2 April, as part of his three-nation trip which kicks off from Belgium on 30 March.
“We look forward to Prime Minister Modi’s visit which will be another milestone in the relations between our two great nations”, Jubeir told IANS after holding meetings with Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in the run-up to the prime ministerial visit.
Swaraj also invited Saudi investment in India’s infrastructure sector, Swarup said.
Pakistan enjoys cordial relations with Saudi Arabia and both countries enjoy multi-faceted cooperation, including in the fields of defence and counter-terrorism.
Earlier Pakistan’s top civil and military leadership made a decision to expand its engagements with Saudi Arabia and will offer military training to the Saudi troops, provide it military hardware and share intelligence.
However Pakistan had firmly maintained that “the attack on Saudi Arabia will be considered an attack on Pakistan” , and vowed to protect the kingdom in face of any threat.
Given continuously low oil prices, it’s not surprising that Saudi Arabia ran a billion budget deficit in 2015, and that’s gapping closer to $100 billion for this year.
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He said that the two countries should focus on visa facilitation for the business persons, enhance banking contacts and remove other non-tariff hindrances which retarded the flow of trade under the existing regime. Later, Pakistani government welcomed the initiative and confirmed its participation in the “anti-terror'” alliance. “The contracts will be completed, but the clients will be the Saudi military”.
