The Commander of Royal Saudi Land Forces, Lieutenant General Fahd Bin Abdullah Mohammed Al-Mutair arrived in India on February 14, 2022 in a historic first.
The three-day visit is the first-ever visit to India by a serving Royal Saudi Land Forces Commander. It is a testament of the growing bilateral defence ties between India and Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi Commander called on India’s army chief General M M Naravane during his visit and both held extensive talks to further enhance defence cooperation between India and Saudi Arabia. Their dialogue paved way for the identification of new areas of cooperation including counter-terrorism, intelligence sharing, artificial intelligence and cyber security.
The Saudi Commander was accorded the ceremonial guard of honour at the South Block lawns before the talks. He was welcomed by General MM Naravane.
General MM Naravane #COAS extended a warm welcome to Lieutenant General Fahd Bin Abdullah Mohammed Al-Mutair, Commander, Royal Saudi Land Forces, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on his arrival at #SouthBlock, New Delhi.#DefenceCooperation#IndiaSaudiArabiaFriendship pic.twitter.com/JzLwE6wyIQ
— ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) February 15, 2022
The commander also visited National Defence College (NDC) in New Delhi as a part of his India visit and interacted with NDC Commandant Lieutenant General Manoj Kumar Mago.
Significance
India attached great importance to the visit of the Saudi Commander, calling it as historic and landmark. The Union Defence Ministry said in a statement that Gen Naravane and Lt Gen Al-Mutair met for “significant bilateral discussions” and that the visiting commander was briefed on “security aspects”.
The Ministry further shared that the relationship between India and Saudi Arabia has grown owing to common interests in economic prosperity, eliminating the scourge of terrorism and mitigating the effects of climate change.
The Indian Army also tweeted, "Lieutenant General Fahd Bin Abdullah Mohammed Al-Mutair, Commander, Royal Saudi Land Forces, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia called on General MM Naravane and discussed ways to further enhance the bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries."
Lieutenant General Fahd Bin Abdullah Mohammed Al-Mutair, Commander, Royal Saudi Land Forces, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia called on General MM Naravane #COAS & discussed ways to further enhance the bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries.#IndiaSaudiArabiaFriendship pic.twitter.com/sU72L1EWPQ
— ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) February 15, 2022
Background
Indian Army Chief General MM Naravane had held telephonic interaction with Lieutenant General Fahd Bin Abdullah Mohammed Al-Mutair earlier on February 9, 2022 to discuss the aspects of bilateral Defence Cooperation.
Army Chief General MM Naravane had telephonic interaction with Lieutenant General Fahd Bin Abdullah Mohammed Al-Mutair, Commander, Royal Saudi Armed Forces, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and discussed aspects of bilateral Defence Cooperation.@adgpi#IndiaSaudiArabiaFriendship pic.twitter.com/TgtbXj4Uz6
— Prasar Bharati News Services पी.बी.एन.एस. (@PBNS_India) February 9, 2022
The defence and security ties between India and Saudi Arabia have been on a high for the last couple of years.
Indian Army Chief General MM Naravane had also visited Saudi Arabia in December 2020, marking the first-ever visit by an Indian Army Chief to the oil-rich Gulf nation.
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