India and Saudi Arabia are set to celebrate 75 years of their diplomatic relations on the occasion of India’s 75th Independence Day, August 15, which has been described by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an elixir of the energy of independence inspired by the gallantry of the warriors of the freedom struggle. 

The celebrations are not confined to the political boundaries of India; their echo is resonating across the Arab world, particularly in Saudi Arabia. Though Indo-Saudi relations are as old as the Indian civilization, the ties got momentum after Saudi Arabia and India emerged as independent and sovereign nations.      

Their bilateral ties have evolved substantially over time leading to the highest civilian award of the Kingdom being conferred on Prime Minister Modi in 2016. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman’s visit to New Delhi in February 2019 gave a further impetus to bilateral ties.

The searing Covid-19 second-wave outbreak and the deadly health emergency in India earlier this year brought the two countries even closer. Saudi Arabia stood in solidarity with India as a dear friend and shipped 200 tonnes of liquid oxygen as a goodwill gesture.

On its part, India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, supplied a large number of coronavirus vaccine doses to Saudi Arabia. Such gestures clearly manifest the deep friendship between the two nations and their leaderships.

Development of close ties 

The past cultural linkages have provided the base for maintaining a similar sort of bonding in contemporary times. It is noteworthy that India, in ancient times, was far ahead of the world in science, philosophy and literature. As a result of age-old relations between India and the Arab world, the Arabs are acquainted with the various aspects of India’s rich intellectual heritage. They had a very high opinion of the Indians.

After the rise of Islam when Arabs developed a keen sense of intellectual curiosity and a voracious appetite for learning, they were naturally attracted to the intellectual legacy of India which served as a source of knowledge to them, especially in the fields of astronomy, mathematics, medicine, philosophy, wisdom and literature.

Moreover, Indians played a major role in the economic and social life of the Saudi people from the pre-oil period onwards. The visits of Indian Hajis (Muslim pilgrims going for the Haj rituals in Mecca), who were relatively affluent pilgrims, used to be a great source of income for the local people.

The ties, however, are by no means limited to people-to-people contact. The cultural relations have been strengthened at the government level from time to time. Inauguration of the 32nd edition of Janadriyah the National Festival of Heritage and Culture by India’s then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj along with Saudi King Salman in 2018, the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Saudi Ministry of Sports and Indian Ministry of Ayush on yoga cooperation, are some recent examples of growing Indo-Saudi cultural relations.

Diaspora linkages 

There is in Saudi Arabia about a three million-strong community of Indian expatriates, considered the largest expatriate community in the Kingdom. The Indian expatriate community is held in high regard. Their contributions to the development of Saudi Arabia have always been appreciated by the Saudi government.

During the pandemic, the Saudi government provided instant medical help to the bulk of affected Indian workers. Even some Indian expatriates, having realized the gravity of the situation during the pandemic created a social media platform, Indo-Arab Helping Hands,  to establish a bridge between the huge Indian diaspora in the Gulf region and India.

The forum’s main focus was to serve the Indo-Arab communities at large during these critical times. It collected requests for help and shared them with the teams active in India to connect the helping hands with the recipients. They worked voluntarily and tirelessly on social media to make available plasma, blood, hospital beds, oxygen cylinders, ambulance and other necessary medicines needed by their countrymen back home and in the Gulf region who have been hit by a massive Covid 19 wave.

Indo-Saudi economic ties have seen tremendous growth over time. According to present data, Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth-largest trading partner after China, the US and Japan. Crude oil and LPG are the two major sources of energy that India imports from Saudi Arabia.

India is keen to attract foreign investment, which is reflected in policies of the Indian government like the relaxations given for ease of doing business and those related to Foreign Direct Investment. However, Gulf countries, particularly Saudi Arabia. could be an attractive strategic partner in developing India’s economy by investing in different economic sectors.

On the other hand, India has been and would be the future oil market. As per the trend and views of economists, the Indian economy would rise over the next couple of decades, generating a huge oil demand. According to the Indian Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, the oil demand is expected to rise by 130 percent by 2040. Saudi Arabia will be an important market for Indian goods, particularly for precious stones, agricultural and pharmaceutical products, etc.

Therefore, the celebration of “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” (the Festival of Independence) in Saudi Arabia and the entire Arab world demonstrates the strong Indo-Arab relations that developed at various levels and remain strong and steady. The continued efforts at further strengthening relations with the Arab world have been a high water mark of Indian foreign policy. Indo-Saudi relations, to be more specific, have a bright future ahead because of mutuality of interests.

(The writer, a faculty member of King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, is the founder-chairman of Indo-Arab Helping Hands. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at asiframeez@gmail.com. He tweets @asiframeez)