The fourth week of April 2025 is when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to travel to Saudi Arabia; his arrival in Jeddah is confirmed on April 22.
His first trip to the kingdom in more than four years comes after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s September 2023 visit to India, which greatly strengthened bilateral relations. By strengthening trade, energy cooperation, defence relations, and investment flows, Modi’s visit seeks to further solidify India and Saudi Arabia’s strategic partnership.
The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), a significant project started in September 2023 to link India with Europe via the Middle East, is a prominent agenda item during Modi’s visit. Saudi Arabia is a vital player because of its advantageous geographic location. The longest section of the corridor is Saudi Arabia, especially the railway link, which has not yet gained the required pace.
Accelerating this corridor, which connects Indian ports like Mundra, Kandla, and Jawaharlal Nehru with ports in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, would be a top priority during discussions in order to increase the resilience of the regional and global supply chains.
The increase of trade connections has been strong; in 2023–2024, bilateral trade reached over $43 billion. India has grown its exports by around 7.8% to about $12 billion, making it Saudi Arabia’s second-largest trading partner. India, which exports rice valued at around $1 billion a year, is likewise vital to Saudi Arabia’s food security.
Reviewing these economic relationships and investigating growing Saudi investments in India—which currently total around $3 billion—in industries like financial services, IT, telecommunications, construction, and pharmaceuticals will be possible during the visit.
With Saudi Arabia providing India with essential crude oil, which makes up around 18% of India’s imports, energy cooperation continues to be a pillar of the partnership. The buyer-seller relationship between the two nations is giving way to strategic alliances involving Saudi investments in India’s downstream oil and gas projects. Saudi Aramco has already agreed to take part in petrochemical and refinery projects on the west coast of India as well as possible engagement in India’s strategic petroleum reserves.
With both countries enjoying close naval cooperation as maritime neighbours, defence and security cooperation will also be a top priority. Established in 2019, the Strategic Partnership Council (SPC), which is co-chaired by Modi and the Crown Prince, continues to promote collaboration in the areas of defence, security, and capacity building.
The visit is anticipated to build on the enthusiasm from the 2023 meeting, which saw the signing of eight memorandums of understanding in a variety of areas, including investment, energy, IT, and anti-corruption.
We’ll talk about regional security issues, especially the ongoing unrest in West Asia, such as the Israel-Hamas war and the instability in the Red Sea brought on by Houthi activity.
In order to restore peace and provide safe marine routes that are essential for trade and energy supply, India aims to cooperate with Saudi Arabia and other regional allies. Modi’s visit underscores the region’s strategic significance in world geopolitics and comes ahead of US President Joe Biden’s scheduled trip to Saudi Arabia in mid-May.
With between 2.6 and 2.7 million members, the Indian diaspora in Saudi Arabia serves as a vital cultural and social link between the two nations and is anticipated to greet the prime minister with open arms during his visit.
With a focus on expanding trade, energy cooperation, defence ties, and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, PM Modi’s visit to Saudi Arabia in April 2025 is expected to strengthen the two countries’ multifaceted partnership while also advancing regional stability and economic integration.
