By IOL South Asia Correspondent

NEW DELHI, March 3 (IslamOnline.net) — Preparations are underway to strengthen security cooperation between India and Saudi Arabia. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) would be signed during the forthcoming visit of the Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz to New Delhi, the external affairs ministry said Monday, March 3.

The MoU would be signed by the Indian deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Lal Krishna Advani and Prince Nayef. The MoU covers cooperation in areas like counter-insurgency, law enforcement and intelligence exchange.

Earlier, federal civil aviation minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, who led his country's Hajj goodwill delegation this year, held talks with the Saudi Interior Minister. Hussain extended an invitation to Prince Nayef on behalf of Advani to visit India. The visit is likely to take place some time this year, though exact dates have not been announced.

"Terrorism is a scourge harming the interest of Muslim people and developing societies throughout the world. Saudi Arabia too is a victim of terrorism. There is a growing need to work with India closely in this regard. Both countries can exchange intelligence and pool resources to confront this challenge. A memorandum should be signed at the earliest to provide necessary framework to initiate regular bilateral security dialogue," Prince Nayef reportedly told Hussain during his meeting.

For close to five decades, India and Saudi Arabia have enjoyed warm relations. King Saud visited India in 1955. India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru paid a return visit to the kingdom next year.

However, during the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971, there was a lull in the high-level bilateral exchanges since Saudi Arabia has been conceived in Delhi as a supporter of Pakistan.

The visit of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1982 again brought warmth in the relations between the two countries. Since then the two countries have not looked back and worked towards strengthening their ties further.

Saudi Arabia considers India an important economic partner. India is a big market for crude oil and energy products and is largely perceived as a source of technology.

On its part, India views Saudi Arabia as an equally important partner. For India, Saudi Arabia holds considerable political and economic importance in the Arab and Islamic world. It is a principal source of India's energy requirements. The kingdom is also a major employer of Indians. The 1.5 million-strong Indian community there forms the largest expatriate group in Saudi Arabia.

Defense cooperation between the two countries has grown over the years. Indian warships paid a goodwill visit to Saudi Arabia and conducted exercises with Saudi vessels in waters off Jubail port in March 2002. Earlier, Indian warships visited the kingdom in June 1998 and September 2000 on similar missions.

Acknowledging India's success in information technology (IT) sector, Saudi authorities have also sought India's assistance in setting up an IT park in the kingdom.

A delegation of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) visited the country in April 2002 and held talks with Prince Abdullah bin Faisal bin Turki Aal Saud, governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), in which setting up of several IT projects was discussed.

Saudi Arabia has emerged the 14th largest market for India and accounts for 7.2 percent of India's total imports. The kingdom considers India as the fifth largest market.

One of the biggest producers of oil in the world, Saudi Arabia has become the largest supplier of crude oil to India. It supplies about 25 percent of India's total requirement amounting to approximately 100 million tons per annum, and this is expected to increase by 7-8 percent every year taking into account the growth in Indian consumption of petroleum products.