‘King Salman is a visionary leader’

Riyadh: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, has described Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman as a visionary leader.

In an interview to Arab News on Saturday, Modi said: “King Salman has led Saudi Arabia with great maturity and foresightedness during one of the most challenging times.”

The Indian prime minister said King Salman has taken personal interest in building the Indo-Saudi relationship and further strengthening bilateral cooperation and engagements in diverse fields. “Building further on this strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia is one of the foreign policy priorities for our government,” said Modi.

Modi termed terrorism as the enemy of the entire humanity. “Both India and Saudi Arabia have been victims of the dastardly acts of terror resulting in the loss of innocent lives. The recent cowardly acts of terror in Lahore, Brussels, Paris, Iraq and the continuing violence in Afghanistan have shown that terrorists recognize no boundaries. They have no caste, color, creed or religion. We need to delink religion from terrorism.”

Modi acknowledged and appreciated Saudi Arabia’s role in eradicating the scourge of terrorism. “We deeply appreciate the leadership role being played by Saudi Arabia in the region to fight this menace,” he said. 

He stated that India is committed to elevate “our buyer-seller relationship into a strategic partnership in the energy sector based on mutual complementarities and interdependence.”

Modi thanked the Saudi leadership for hosting a large Indian community and for ensuring their continued welfare and wellbeing. “I have heard immense praise of our community for their educational and technical achievement; for their integrity and sense of discipline; and for their honesty and devotion to work. Such praise fills me with great pride,” he said.