In a historic move, the Saudi Arabia Land Forces Commander Lieutenant General Fahd Bin Abdullah Mohammed Al-Mutair completed his three-day visit to India.
The Saudi Arabian army chief is the first-ever serving Royal Saudi Land Forces Commander to visit India. According to the official statement of the Indian Minister to Defence, the Saudi official arrived in India on 14 February 2022 and left on 16th.
“Lieutenant General Fahd Bin Abdullah Mohammed Al-Mutair was received by General MM Naravane, Chief of the Army Staff of Indian Army at South Block where he was accorded a Ceremonial Guard of Honour. He met the COAS for significant bilateral discussions and was briefed on security aspects,” an official statement said.
The official statement also stated the aim of the visit and termed it as ‘strengthening bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries’.
General MM Naravane had also visited Saudi Arabia in December 2020 in a historic visit which marked the first time that an Indian army chief had visited Saudi Arabia.
According to the statement of the Saudi press agency, the Saudi chief extended his thanks to the Indian Chief of Army Staff for the invitation and also paid a visit to the Indian National Defense University.
Spokesperson of Bhartiya Janta Party Rajeev Jaitly while exclusively talking to Minute Mirror said, “It is not only Saudi Arabia but we have good ties with all other Muslim countries and in coming days due to our strategic and economic partnerships these relations will grow more.”
A senior political analyst from Saudi Arabia on the condition of anonymity said, “This is just a normal visit and it was not even covered here in local media. All the final decisions are with the crown prince and I don’t think that this visit holds such importance. On the ground, people are very angry with India and its government on the inhuman behaviour happening with Muslims in India.”
