Saudi to ink Pakistan, India deals
Saudi Arabia s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is expected to announce investments in energy and infrastructure during a visit to India and Pakistan in coming days.
The prince, known as MBS, is also expected to visit China, Malaysia and Indonesia during a tour that will be his first through the region since the storm over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last October.
Prince Mohammed is due to visit Pakistan this weekend, when he is expected to ink agreements, mainly linked to a refinery and the power sector, Pakistani officials said.
He is expected in New Delhi next week, along with leading Saudi businessmen, at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India s foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
Pakistan s new prime minis- ter, Imran Khan, was among a handful of heads of state who attended Riyadh s flagship investment conference last October, an event that was boycotted by many companies and world leaders in protest over Khashoggi s murder. Modi met the prince in November, when they were in Argentina for a Group of 20 summit. Though Saudi Arabia remains India s top crude oil supplier, they have expanded ties beyond energy, and have agreed to build a strategic partnership, the foreign ministry said.
In recent years, there has been significant progress in bilateral co-operation in key areas of mutual interest, including energy security, trade and investment, infrastructure, defence and security,” the ministry said in a statement.
India is expecting Mohammed to announce an initial investment in its National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, a quasi-sovereign wealth fund, to help accelerate the building of ports and highways, an Indian official said.
Saudi Arabia has also flagged a desire to invest in India s farm sector, with products to be exported to Saudi, another official at the trade ministry said.
However, progress on a $44bn refinery that Indian staterun oil companies agreed to build with Saudi Aramco on India s west coast has been held up by strong opposition from mango farmers over their land.
Since taking office in 2014, Modi has sought to use India s fast-growing economy to attract investment from Saudi Arabia and other Islamic nations.
As a fellow Muslim country, Pakistan has long maintained strong ties with Saudi Arabia. In late October, Riyadh offered Pakistan a $6bn loan to help keep its ailing economy afloat. It has also announced plans for a $10bn refinery and petrochemical complex at the coastal city of Gwadar, where China is building a port as part of its vast Belt and Road initiative.
They re looking at the energy sector, at some of our privatisation plans that they might bid for through our privatisation process,” said Pakistani investment minister Haroon Sharif.
Sharif, who chairs Pakistan s Board of Investment, said there was Saudi interest in Pakistan s mining sector. Their investment fund is over $1-trillion, so we want just a fraction of that,” said a second minister. /