India and Saudi Arabia signed a Defense Cooperation agreement on Wednesday, after Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud arrived in New Delhi on a three-day official visit.

India and Saudi Arabia signed a Defense Cooperation agreement on Wednesday, after Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud arrived in New Delhi on a three-day official visit.

The two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for greater exchange of information and training after a meeting between the Crown Prince and Indian Vice-President Hamid Ansari, a former envoy to Saudi Arabia.

“A Defense Cooperation Agreement was signed between the two countries by Dr. Nizar Bin Obaid Madani, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Jitendra Singh, India’s Minister of State for Defense,” a senior official of India’s Foreign Ministry said.

It is expected that the two countries intend to work together and enhance cooperation in hydrocarbons, security, drug trafficking, and curbing the money-laundering.
In recent years, there has been significant progress between the two nations in bilateral cooperation in key areas of mutual interest, including energy security, trade and infrastructure development projects, Information Technology and pharmaceuticals.
Saudi Arabia is India’s 4th largest partner with bilateral trade over $43 billion in 2012-13.
Saudi Arabia is also India’s largest crude oil supplier accounting for about one-fifth of India's total imports in 2012-13.
Indians form the largest expatriate community in Saudi Arabia with about 2.88 million Indian nationals working in the Kingdom.