Our investment plans in India on track, Indian economy has strength to bounce back: Saudi Arabia
New Delhi, Dec 20: Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, on Sunday said its investment plans in India are on track, noting that the Indian economy has the strength to recover from the adverse impact of the coronavirus crisis.
In February last year, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced that Saudi Arabia would invest over USD 100 billion in India in petrochemicals, refining, infrastructure, mining and manufacturing, agriculture and several other sectors.
"Our plans to invest in India are on track and we are in discussion to prioritise investment opportunities in several sectors in both countries," Saudi Ambassador Dr Saud bin Mohammed Al Sati told PTI in an interview.
Stating that Saudi Arabia values India as a strategic partner and a close friend, Al Sati identified ongoing cooperation in areas of training, knowledge sharing and combating terrorism as key elements of the partnership in defence and security sphere.
Al Sati complimented India's measures to revive its economy in view of the impact of the pandemic and said the economic recovery of both countries will help elevate other economies in the region as well.
"The economic relief package provided by India for its most prominent sectors is commendable. As the fifth-largest global economy and the largest economy in South Asia, the Indian economy has the impetus to recover from the impact of the ongoing pandemic," he said.
Without commenting on Army Chief Gen MM Naravane's visit to Saudi Arabia last week, the Ambassador said the setting up of the Strategic Partnership Council by the two countries opened new avenues of cooperation in several sectors including defence and security and counter-terrorism.
"The Strategic (Partnership) Council set up by the two countries in 2019 has opened new avenues on partnership in strategic areas like defence, security counter-terrorism, energy security and renewable energy," he said.
Gen Naravane on Sunday held extensive talks with Commander of Royal Saudi land forces Gen Fahd Bin Abdullah Mohammed Al-Mutir as he began a two-day rare visit to the Gulf country to lay the ground for deeper military ties.
In the first-ever visit by a head of the Indian Army, Gen Naravane travelled to Saudi capital city Riyadh last week where he held talks with top military brass.
The two sides set up the Strategic Partnership Council during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Riyadh in October last year. The council is mandated to monitor the progress of strategic relationships in a whole range of key areas.
"The current decade has witnessed a remarkable stride in the relations between Saudi Arabia and India. What was once viewed as ties between two friendly countries is now a strong strategic partnership between two formidable economies," Al Sati said.
"From energy cooperation, security and defense, burgeoning trade relations to health cooperation, the nature of this relationship has diversified immensely allowing for expanded growth. The leadership on both sides have heralded this transformation for Saudi India ties," he said.
On trade partnership, the envoy referred to the decision by Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) to invest approximately USD 1.3 billion in Reliance Retail and USD 1.5 billion in Reliance's Jio platforms
"Saudi Aramco is committed to investing in India's energy sector. Aramco's decision to buy a stake in Reliance Industries Oil to Chemical business and Aramco's commitment to invest in the West Coast refinery petrochemical project signifies the interest Saudi Arabia places in the development of India's energy sector," he said.
Apart from this, Al Sati said Saudi Arabia is continuing to explore new investment opportunities in India.
The envoy also highlighted Saudi Arabia's recent Labor Reform Initiative (LRI), saying they will further help Saudi Arabia and India to cement their economic relationship.
"It will enhance the contractual relationship between workers and employers, and will support the Kingdom's vision of establishing an attractive job market, empowering and developing labour competencies and developing the work environment," he said.
"The initiative is a welcome step in improving the efficiency of the work environment in Saudi Arabia and will complement similar initiatives launched in this regard," he said.
Al Sati said the measures will also contribute towards reducing the disparity between Saudi workers and expatriates.
"The positive economic benefits expected from LRI include the development of the local market and the flexibility of work, increase in productivity within the private sector attracting highly skilled talent, and will ultimately help in achieving the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 through the national transformation programme," he said.
Asked about political developments in Yemen, the Saudi Ambassador said the forming of the new government in that country is an important step in the context of implementing the Riyadh agreement.
"We hope that this step will help in realising peace and stability in Yemen and in achieving the aspirations of the Yemeni people for a political solution that ends the crisis in Yemen," he said.
The Riyadh agreement was pushed by Saudi Arabia in an effort to end hostilities between Yemen's internationally recognised government and southern separatists.
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Former rapper Balendra Shah’s Rastriya Swatantra Party heading towards landslide victory in Nepal
Kathmandu (PTI): Rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah's newly formed Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was on Saturday heading towards a sweeping victory in Nepal's first general elections since the violent Gen Z protests, shattering the dominance of established political parties in the politically fragile nation.
According to the Election Commission's data available from 161 of the total 165 constituencies, the RSP has won 27 seats with a clean sweep in all 10 constituencies of Kathmandu district in the elections held on Thursday.
The Nepali Congress has secured victory in five seats, the Nepali Communist Party has won two seats and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) has won one.
The RSP is leading in another 97 seats, the Nepali Congress, the Nepali Communist Party and CPN (UML) are leading on 10 seats each, while Shram Sanskriti Party is leading on five. Others are leading on two seats, according to the Election Commission figures till 10 am.
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Balendra Shah, who was the mayor of Kathmandu till recently, has secured 39,284 votes in Jhapa-5 constituency against four-time prime minister and CPN-UML chair K P Sharma Oli in the latter's stronghold. Oli has received 10,293 votes so far.
Popularly known as 'Balen', the 35-year-old engineer is expected to be the next prime minister of Nepal, reflecting a public mood of rejection of established parties. Nepal has had 14 governments in the last 18 years.
The election is being closely watched by India, which hopes for a stable government in the politically fragile Himalayan nation to take forward the developmental partnership between the two sides.
"We look forward to working with the new Government of Nepal to further build on the robust multifaceted ties between our two countries and peoples for mutual benefit," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said in Delhi on Thursday.
He said India has "consistently supported peace, progress and stability in Nepal and in keeping with our commitment, provided logistical supplies as per request from the Government of Nepal for these elections".
Out of a total of 275 members of the Parliament, 165 will be elected through direct voting, while the remaining 110 will be elected through a proportionate method.
In the Nepal elections, about 18.9 million voters were eligible to elect 275 members of the House of Representatives, with around 60 per cent of them turning out to vote on Thursday.
Around 3,400 candidates are vying for 165 seats under direct voting, and 3,135 candidates for 110 seats through proportionate voting.
The Gen Z youth, through their two-day intensified protests on September 8 and 9 last year, ousted Prime Minister Oli, who was heading a coalition government with the backing of Nepali Congress that enjoyed nearly two-thirds majority support.
Balen was a popular choice to lead the interim government after Gen Z youths toppled the Oli-led coalition government.
But Balen declined to lead the interim administration, saying he would rather head the government by contesting the parliamentary election for a full term.
In January, he joined the RSP, which was formed in 2022 by Ravi Lamichhane, and was soon declared the party's prime ministerial candidate. The RSP received significant support during the campaign.
Nepali Congress president Gagan Thapa was the prime ministerial candidate of his party, whereas the CPN (UML) projected Oli as its PM face. Both Nepali Congress and CPN (UML) were part of the government toppled by the Gen Z last year.
According to the Election Commission, Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda won from Rukum Purba district. He secured 10,240 votes against his rival Lilamani Gautam of CPN (UML), who got 3,462 votes.
After Oli's ouster, President Ramchandra Paudel dissolved the House of Representatives on September 12 and appointed Sushila Karki as the caretaker PM.
The major issues raised by Gen Z are anti-corruption, good governance, an end to nepotism, generational change in political leadership, etc.
