India’s Prime Minister has embarked on a two-day state visit to Saudi Arabia, marking his third trip to the kingdom over the past decade and his first to the port city of Jeddah. At a glance, this may seem like a routine diplomatic engagement, the sort of ritualistic handshaking and ceremonial pageantry common among global leaders. But it is far from that. This visit is laden with geopolitical significance, and not only for the two countries directly involved.
The context is telling. India and Saudi Arabia, once loosely tethered by oil flows and labour migration, are now fast evolving into strategic partners. Their bilateral ties—once transactional—are now underpinned by shared economic and security goals, common diplomatic alignments, and a quietly growing ambition to reshape regional dynamics from West Asia to the Indo-Pacific.
From barrels to boardrooms
At the heart of the visit lies the 2nd meeting of the Strategic Partnership Council (SPC), an institutional mechanism established during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s state visit to India in 2019. The Council, which mirrors similar frameworks India has with countries like the United States and Russia, is a tool for policy coordination at the highest level. Its convening now, after the Crown Prince’s high-profile trip to New Delhi in 2023, signals that Saudi-Indian relations are entering a phase of greater depth and direction.
Energy is a clear pillar of the relationship. Saudi Arabia remains one of India’s top crude suppliers, and as India’s appetite for oil continues to rise, stability in energy flows becomes ever more crucial. But the Saudis, too, have reason to deepen ties. Vision 2030—the Crown Prince’s ambitious plan to diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy away from hydrocarbons—demands a steady influx of foreign investment and technological partnerships. India’s sprawling digital economy, its renewable energy aspirations, and its vast consumer market all offer tantalising prospects. The planned West Coast refinery in Maharashtra, a mammoth joint venture involving Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), is back on the table after years of delay. Talks around such projects are expected to resume during this visit.
Strategic depth in shallow waters
Yet the partnership is not merely commercial. It is also increasingly strategic. Both countries share anxieties about regional instability: from the war in Yemen and the growing assertiveness of Iran, to the complex chessboard of the Red Sea and Gulf waters. India’s naval deployments in the Arabian Sea, its growing defence-industrial footprint, and its active role in the Indian Ocean Rim all intersect with Saudi Arabia’s own security concerns. There are murmurs that defence cooperation, long kept in the shadows, may soon emerge into the open. Intelligence-sharing, joint military exercises, and counterterrorism collaboration are no longer taboo topics.
This convergence is also shaped by shifts in the broader global order. India, bolstered by its demographic edge and economic growth, is seeking a greater role on the world stage. Saudi Arabia, flush with petrodollars and geopolitical ambition, is reinventing itself as a diplomatic powerbroker—from Gaza to Kyiv. Both countries are hedging against a world where American influence is in relative decline, China’s presence is more assertive, and multilateralism is fractured. It is no coincidence that India invited Saudi Arabia to participate in the G20 Summit in New Delhi last year as a special guest. Nor is it accidental that Riyadh, once reluctant to engage with New Delhi on global issues, now sees India as a credible and necessary partner.
The visit also carries a quieter, softer dimension. The Indian diaspora in Saudi Arabia—numbering over 2.5 million—is one of the largest in the Gulf and a significant contributor to both economies. The community is not only an economic force but also a diplomatic bridge, fostering people-to-people ties and cultural linkages that make the relationship more resilient.
There are, of course, limits to how far and how fast the partnership can grow. Saudi Arabia remains entwined in the politics of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), while India balances its engagements with Iran and Israel. Pakistan, India’s neighbour and Saudi Arabia’s longtime ally, adds a layer of complexity. Yet even here, there are signs of a shifting calculus. Riyadh’s relations with Islamabad have cooled in recent years, and its outreach to New Delhi increasingly reflects a pragmatic decoupling of old allegiances.
In the final analysis, this visit is a reflection of mutual need—and mutual ambition. India and Saudi Arabia are no longer content with the old paradigms. Their leaders, pragmatic and reform-minded in their own ways, see an opportunity to co-author a new chapter of regional engagement. Whether it be in the corridors of diplomacy or the depths of the ocean, the desert handshake in Jeddah this week may well echo far beyond the sands of Arabia.
