The late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia interacts with the then Indian president, the late APJ Abdul Kalam, during the Republic Day parade in 2006.
The CP will become only the third Arab leader to have attended India's Republic Day celebrations as Chief Guest.
Published: Mon 23 Jan 2017, 7:48 PM
With his upcoming visit to India, His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, will become only the third Arab leader to have attended India's Republic Day celebrations as Chief Guest. The other two Arab leaders are Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 2001 and the late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia in 2006.
Since Algeria became independent from France in 1962, it has shared a warm and cordial relationship with India, which included a visit by the then Indian prime minister, the late Indira Gandhi, to Algeria for the 1973 summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, as well as a visit by the then prime minister, the late Rajiv Gandhi, in June 1985.
The 2001 visit by President Bouteflika came at a time when India and Algeria were preparing to further cement their economic and political relationship. At the time, India's Oil and Natural Gas Commission (Videsh) was still in the midst of a Rs2,000-crore deal with Algerian oil giant Sonatrach to prospect for oil in the country and commit to joint forays into third countries.
Additionally, the two-countries had a common interest in counter-terrorism and defence cooperation, as Algeria was attempting to seek India's help in modernising its military into a large, professional force able of combating a vicious insurgency which was taking place in the country at the time. During the visit, Bouteflika held talks with the then Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, as well as the then president K.R. Narayanan, and the then defence minister George Fernandes.
In 2006, King Abdallah became the second Arab leader to attend Republic Day during a four-day visit, which India's External Affairs Ministry said would "substantially strengthen bilateral ties and raise them to a new height". During the visit, he also remarked that he considered India as "his second home".
At the time, India and Saudi Arabia already enjoyed close economic ties, with trade exceeding $8.7 billion in 2004 and India purchasing 25 million tones of crude oil worth $6.2 billion in that year alone.
The visit - which was considered a milestone in Indo-Saudi relations - ended with the signing of the "Delhi Declaration" which noted that both countries were "determined to work closely together for the welfare and benefit of their people and for peace and stability in the region and the world".
Among the issues touched upon in the Delhi Declaration was a pledge that both countries would work together to combat terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering and other transnational crimes, as well as expand mutual trade and investments, establish a reliable, stable and increased volume of crude oil supplies through long-term 'ever-green contracts', cooperate in terms of Saudi investments in India-based oil refining, storage and marketing, and the establishment of Indo-Saudi ventures for gas-based fertilizer plants in Saudi Arabia.
The effects of the trip were long lasting, and when King Abdallah passed away in 2015 at the age of 90, many Indian commentators noted that India had lost an important ally.
"During King Abdallah's rule, the foundation of the India-Saudi Arabia strategic partnership was laid and bilateral ties gained momentum," Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Hamid Ali Rao told PTI at the time. "He was a great friend of India."
bernd@khaleejtimes.com
India's past five Republic Day Chief Guests
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