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defence cooperation and “promote cooperation in defence industry,
science, technology and transfer of technology” (India, MEA 2014a, b).
A lesser noticed element in the joint statement was their mutual pledge
“to transform the buyer-seller relationship in the energy sector to one of
deeper partnership.” In line with the then Indian practice, the support for
the Palestinian cause came with an interesting twist. Both sides called for
“a just, comprehensive and lasting peace” to the Palestinian issue “that
guarantees the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including the
establishment of their independent, united and viable state with East
Jerusalem as its capital.” Unlike the previous occasion, the joint statement
made no direct reference to Israel.
Abdullah’s daughter Princess Adelah headed a Saudi delegation of
Advisory Committee of Saudi National Museum and Heritage Preservation
Society to India in September 2012 (India, MEA 2013 , 44–45). This was
a rare sign of women empowerment in the Kingdom. While the contours
of Prime Minister Modi’s Middle East policy and his extensive engage-
ments with the Kingdom are discussed in a later chapter, for continuity, his
Saudi visit in April 2016 is discussed here.
Joint Statement, 2016
The joint statement signed by Prime Minister Modi and King Salman on
3 April 2016 is an interesting read as it contained not only areas of Indo-
Saudi commonalities but also the dichotomy between Modi’s domestic
and foreign policies (Annexure 9 ). It makes customary remarks about the
Delhi and Riyadh Declarations signed by their predecessors and “close
interlinkage” between the stability of the Gulf region and the Indian
subcontinent. Security cooperation, which has become a hallmark of
Modi’s engagements with the Middle East, could also be noticed here
and 9 out of the 36 points of agreement pertain to security arena. A few
months before Modi’s visit, the then Mumbai Police Commissioner
Ahmad Javed was named ambassador to Riyadh (India, MEA 2015c;
FirstPost 2015 ), highlighting the importance of security cooperation
with the Kingdom.^3
(^3) However, this was not the first time a serving police officer was appointed as ambassador
to Saudi Arabia, and in 1968 Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sent the then Director General
of Tamil Nadu Police T. T. P. Abdullah to Riyadh and he was renominated in May 1981 for
another term.
P. R. KUMARASWAMY AND MD. M. QUAMAR