Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. India and Saudi Arabia vowed to jointly combat terrorism and money laundering as they signed an extradition treaty and several agreements to raise their cooperation to a strategic partnership covering security, economic, energy and defence areas. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Saudi King Abdullah, who held wide-ranging discussions, signed the Riyadh Declaration outlining the contours of a new era of strategic partnership between the two countries. Indians make up the largest expatriate community in this Gulf nation

Singh’s is the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Saudi Arabia since 1982 when Indira Gandhi travelled to the desert kingdom, which accounts for 20% of country’s energy imports and, by virtue of its King being the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, holds a pivotal position in the Islamic world.

It is recognized here that the country should have followed up on Indira Gandhi’s visit, but the failure to do so is
blamed on India’s preoccupation with developments in the neighbourhood and the toil to come to grips with the post-Cold War world. Saudis had their own concerns and imperatives — a volatile Middle East and churn in the Islamic world which threatened to challenge the hold of the House of Sauds.

But the two countries have decided to make up for the lost time and deepen the engagement. The visit of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in January 2006 when he was also the Chief Guest for the Republic Day celebrations, was the turning point.