* * * * * * * * * * The Crown Prince who arrived in Islamabad on Sunday at the start of his tour of South Asia has returned to Saudi Arabia on Monday. New Delhi had reservations over his coming to India from Pakistan.Riyadh is expected to make attempts to "de-escalate" tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the deadly terror attack in Pulwama by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad, according to Saudi Arabia's minister of state for foreign affairs Adel al-Jubeir.During the visit, both sides are expected to sign five agreements in areas of investment, tourism, housing and information and broadcasting during the Saudi leader's visit, said the secretary, economic affairs in the external affairs ministry, TS Tirumurti.Trimurti said Saudi Arabia has conveyed to India that it will be joining the 'International Solar Alliance' initiative.The two sides are looking at joint exercise between the two navies besides significantly ramping up overall defence cooperation, according to sources.The other areas of interest for joint collaboration are fertilizers, food security, infrastructure, renewable energy, etc.Also on the anvil is greater collaboration in the area of civil aviation.The Crown Prince will be accompanied by a high-level official team as well as a large business delegation.They said the joint statement to be issued after talks between the two sides is likely to have a strong reference about terrorism and ways to deal with it.Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host a lunch in honour of the Crown Prince at Hyderabad House on Wednesday. The Crown Prince will call on President Ram Nath Kovind and he will host a banquet in honour of the visiting dignitary.<doc-sep>NEW DELHI : Pakistan’s efforts to use Saudi Arabia to neutralize a diplomatic onslaught by India following last week’s Pulwama attack was checkmated by New Delhi with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) going home for a day before arriving in New Delhi on the second leg of a three-nation Asian tour. India conveyed to the Saudi authorities that a visit to New Delhi by Crown Prince Salman, also known as MBS, immediately following a stop in Islamabad, would not be acceptable to India, a person familiar with the matter said. The Saudi crown prince then went home for a day before reaching India late Tuesday in what is seen as a de-hyphenation of relations between India and Pakistan. Saudi investment in India is different from the investment of $20 billion in Pakistan, given that the Indian economy is a very robust economy and any money put into India was not a “bailout" of any kind, said the person mentioned above. The visits by MBS to Pakistan, India, and China, as well as other countries was planned before the 14 February Pulwama attack in which a suicide bomber killed more than 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel. The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack. On Friday, India announced plans to diplomatically isolate Pakistan but the visit by MBS and the signing of pacts that enable $20 billion in investments has been highlighted by Pakistan media and the government as a sign that India’s designs had not succeeded. In New Delhi, people familiar with the development underlined that India’s ties with Saudi Arabia had undergone a great deal of evolution from past years when ties with India were seen through the prism of Pakistan. In the case of India’s dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir, the Saudi position has evolved to an understanding that it is a bilateral issue between the two South Asian countries, the person mentioned above said. “ I don’t think they buy the Pakistani narrative" on Kashmir any more, the person said. MBS, who arrives in India late on Tuesday, will be given a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host him at lunch and President Ram Nath Kovind will host an official banquet, said T.S. Tirumurti, secretary economic relations, in the Indian foreign ministry. “Saudi Arabia is a strategic partner in our extended neighbourhood. The Riyadh Declaration of 2010 had forged a strategic partnership between India and Saudi Arabia," Tirumurti said, adding that since the 2016 visit to Riyadh by Prime Minister Modi, “there has been an intensification of our engagement". Saudi Arabia has now identified India among eight countries with which it wants to intensify its strategic partnership in the political, security, trade and investment and culture spheres, Tirumurti said. “As part of this engagement, we are finalizing the setting up of Strategic Partnership Council between the two countries at the ministerial level. We are confident that this will give greater thrust to our strategic partnership and take forward our discussions in a focused and action-oriented manner. This engagement has already begun between authorities concerned of both countries in select sectors of mutual interest especially in trade, investment and economic issues," he said. Both sides are looking at ramping up collaboration in the energy sector with Saudi Arabia’s Aramco looking to partner the United Arab Emirates’ Adnoc in putting up the Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Project Ltd. This is a $44 billion joint venture between companies of India, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Tirumurti said. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now! !<doc-sep>
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, widely known as "MBS", arrived in New Delhi with his ministers and a large business delegation, at the end of his two-day visit to Pakistan. He is expected to hold bilateral talks with PM Modi on Wednesday. Saudi Arabia has vowed to "de-escalate" rising tensions between Pakistan and India during the high-profile summit in Islamabad. The joint statement said during the talks, the Crown Prince and the Deputy Prime Minister also stressed that "dialogue is the only way to ensure peace and stability in the region to resolve outstanding issues". "They also underlined the need for avoiding politicisation of UN listing regime," the joint statement said in an apparent reference to India's effort to include list Jaish chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist under UN rules. Jaish has taken responsibility for Thursday's attack in Pulwama. Sources told NDTV that India and Saudi Arabia are likely to issue a "strong statement on terrorism" after Wednesday's meeting between PM Modi and the Prince. India, sources said, has a "strong, independent relationship with Saudi Arabia" and that "Pakistan should be feeling insecure, not India". India has refused any overtures of talks from Islamabad, contending that a dialogue cannot begin unless cross-border terror stops. Over 40 soldiers were killed in last week's attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama that India has blamed on Pakistan. India has been identified as one of the eight strategic partners with whom Saudi Arabia hopes to "deepen partnership" in terms of security, trade, investment and culture, news agency Press Trust of India quoted senior foreign ministry official TS Tirumurti as saying. The two nations are expected to set up a ''Strategic Partnership Council'' at a ministerial level, planning joint naval exercises and overall upping of defence cooperation during this visit. The Saudi prince's visit comes nearly three years after PM Modi's visit to Riyadh in 2016, during which the two nations expanded cooperation across diverse areas including trade, investment and counter-terrorism. The two nations had also inked a pact on the exchange of intelligence related to money laundering and terrorism. Over the last two days, the oil-rich nation has signed deals worth $20 billion with cash-strapped Pakistan. In October last year, Saudi Arabia had offered Pakistan a $6 billion loan. It also announced plans for a $10 billion refinery and petrochemical complex at the coastal city of Gwadar, where China is building a port as part of its Belt and Road initiative.