India and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation for greater exchange of information and training.
Saudi crown prince's day one of three day India visit saw defence tie up between both nations. Agencies.
The agreement was signed on the day one of the three-day India visit of Saudi Arabia's crown prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who arrived on Wednesday afternoon.
Hours within arriving, the crown prince met Vice President Hamid Ansari.
The agreement was signed by Saudi Arabia's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Nizar Bin Obaid Madani and India's Minister of State for Defence, Jitendra Singh.
Crown Prince Salman's is the highest level political visit from the kingdom after the January 2006 landmark trip by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud who attended Republic Day celebrations as the chief guest.
Next in line for the throne, the crown prince, who is the current deputy prime minister and defence minister. He will call on President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday.
The two countries are eager to work together in curbing money laundering and drug trafficking as well as enhance cooperation in areas ranging from hydrocarbons to security.
Saudi Arabia sees India as an attractive investment hub for its business interests in Asia and has sought Indian investments in areas such as consultancy, construction, telecom, information technology and pharmaceuticals.
Saudi Arabia was India's fourth largest partner with bilateral trade of over $43 billion in 2012-13. and largest crude oil supplier accounting for about one-fifth of India's total imports in 2012-13. Indians also form the largest expatriate community in Saudi Arabia with about 2.88 million Indian nationals working there.
IANS
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