Updated
Riyadh, Apr 3 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred Saudi Arabia's highest civilian honour, the King Abdulaziz Sash, on Sunday, the second and final day of his visit to the Gulf kingdom.
“In a special gesture, PM @narendramodi was conferred Saudi Arabia's highest civilian honour, the King Abdulaziz Sash,” external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted.
The honour is named after founder of the modern Saudi state, Abdulaziz Al Saud.
Among other notable recipients of this honour are US President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
India, Saudi Arabia sign deals on terror financing, trade promotion
India and Saudi Arabia signed five agreements, including one on terror financing and another on promoting trade between the two countries, on Sunday, the second and final day of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's bilateral visit to the Gulf kingdom.
The agreements were signed after delegation-level talks here led by Modi and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
A memorandum of understanding was signed between the financial intelligence units of the two countries on cooperation in the exchange of intelligence related to money laundering, terrorism financing and related crimes, according to external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup.
Invest India and Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SABIA) signed a framework agreement on investment promotion cooperation.
The external affairs ministry and the Saudi labour ministry signed an agreement on labour cooperation for recruitment of general category workers.
A fourth agreement was signed between Export Promotion Council for Handicraft (EPCH) and the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage on an executive programme for cooperation in the field of handicrafts.
Another agreement for technical cooperation programme was signed between the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organisation (SASO).
PM gifts Saudi king gold replica of Kerala mosque
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, the second and final day of his bilateral visit to Saudi Arabia, gifted King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud a gold-plated replica of the Cheraman Juma Masjid in Kerala.
Situated in Thrissur district, the Cheraman Juma Masjid is believed to be the first mosque built in India by Arab traders around 629 AD, and symbolic of active trade relations between India and Saudi Arabia since ancient times, an official statement about the gift said.
According to oral tradition, Cheraman Perumal was the Chera king and a contemporary of the Holy Prophet who went to Arabia and embraced Islam after meeting the Holy Prophet at Makkah.
Some years later, he sent letters to his relatives and the ruling chieftains of Malabar through his friends Malik bin Dinar and Malik bin Habib who, along with their companions, were then given permission by the local rulers to build the mosque at Kodungallur.
The mosque has an ancient oil lamp that is always kept burning and is believed to be over a thousand years old. People from all religions bring oil for the lamp as an offering.
King Salman on Sunday received Modi and his delegation at the Royal Court here.
“A truly Royal welcome. PM @narendramodi is welcomed by His Majesty King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at the Palace,” external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted.
Earlier:
Modi hails all-women IT centre as 'glory of Saudi Arabia'
Riyadh, Apr 3 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday described an all-women IT centre set up by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) here as the "glory of Saudi Arabia".
"I am meeting those professionals who are now the glory of Saudi Arabia," said Modi in the first engagement of the second and last day of his bilateral visit to Saudi Arabia.
"This atmosphere I am witnessing here today has the potential to give a strong reply to the world."
Modi was welcomed with cheers by the employees as he entered the centre.
Some of them took selfies with the prime minister.
The centre, opened three years back, initially had 80 people. The number has now grown to over 1,000.
Eighty percent of the employees are local Saudi women.
It is also the first BPO to be opened by any company in the world in Saudi Arabia and the significance is more so because it is run entirely by women.
Over 60 percent of graduates in Saudi Arabia are women.
Saudi Arabia is the third and last leg of Modi's five-day foreign tour which also took him to Brussels and Washington, D.C.
In Brussels, he attended the 13th India-European Union (EU) Summit and held a bilateral meeting with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, and then in Washington he participated in the Nuclear Security Summit hosted by US President Barack Obama.
This is the first prime ministerial visit from India to the oil-rich Saudi kingdom since the visit of Manmohan Singh in 2010.
Modi will be accorded a ceremonial welcome on Sunday afternoon at the Royal Court here by King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who will also host a lunch in honour of the visiting prime minister.
This will be followed by delegation-level talks and the signing of agreements.
During the course of Modi's visit, ties between India and Saudi Arabia are expected to be further elevated from the current strategic partnership to a more broad-based one.
The prime minister will leave for India late Sunday afternoon.