Prime Minister Singh visits Saudi Arabia, Riyadh Declaration signed
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  • Prime Minister Manmohan Singh paid a three day visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from February 27-March 1. He was accompanied by his cabinet colleagues including Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora, Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor and National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon.

    King Abdullah and Prime Minister Singh signed the ‘Riyadh Declaration’ on February 28. The Declaration has been termed ‘a new era of strategic partnership’ and identified certain core areas of cooperation between the two countries. Both the countries vowed to jointly combat terrorism and money laundering even as they signed an extradition treaty. They agreed to enhance cooperation relating to exchange of information regarding terrorist activities and vowed to develop joint strategies to combat the threats of money laundering, narcotics and arms and human trafficking.1

    On scientific and technological cooperation, memoranda of understanding on cooperation in the peaceful use of outer space, information technology and services between the Saudi Press Agency and the Press Trust of India, cultural exchange and advanced computing services were agreed upon.2 King Abdullah and PM Singh also discussed several regional issues like the Israel-Palestine peace process, Iranian nuclear issue and the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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