Indian Council of World Affairs

The Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), in collaboration with Prince Saud Al Faisal Institute for Diplomatic Studies (PSAIDS), organised their 9^th Dialogue on 05 February 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Dialogue focused on India-Saudi Perspectives on a Changing World Order, regional issues and bilateral ties. A four-member delegation from ICWA visited PSAIDS, Riyadh for the dialogue. ICWA delegation was led by Deputy Director General ICWA, Shri L Prashant Piseand PSAIDS delegation was led by Director General, PSAIDS Dr.Moshabob Al Qahtani. It was emphasized that, being historic partners, there is a need for India and Saudi Arabiato further strengthen their partnership especially as the region is witnessing crisis at various levels.

First session of the Dialogue was chaired by Nojoud Bin Shraim and focused on the political and cultural bilateral relations. Dr Ali Al Qarni, Head, Centre for Asian Studies, PSAIDSand Dr Lakshmi Priya, ResearchFellow, ICWA emphasised on the need to enhance the media cooperation between the two countries as it is an important tool for perception building.The potential for India and Saudi Arabia to cooperate in defence and space sectors was highlighted by both the sides. The Saudi side also underlined that India is an important country and should engage in the region more actively in terms of emerging as a security provider.The significance of cultural connect and need for organising programs to familiarise people with the culture and lifestyle of the other country was emphasised during the session. People to people ties form the base of bilateral partnerships and the participants agreed that the two countries should focus on enhancing these ties.

Second session chaired by DDG ICWA focused on the economic ties, trade and investments and the Dr Rajja Al Marzouqi, Chief Economic Advisor, Ministry of Economic and Planning and Faculty at Economic Division, PSAIDS andDr Arshad, Research Fellow, ICWAstressed on the growing bilateral economic cooperation. The session focused on the significance of connectivity and relevance of India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) in the region and beyond. The participants concluded that the success of IMEC depends on its efficiency in terms of cost and time. It was also mentioned that IMEC is a complement to International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and Chabahar. The speakers stressed that there is an opportunity for Indian companies to invest in the NEOM project, the Red Sea coastline development, the 2034 World Cup infrastructure development.

Third and fourth sessions focused on the regional issues and the great power competition in the region. Dr Abdullah Al Hamadi, Dr Assad Al Shamlan, Director, Centre for European Studies, PSAIDS and Dr Fazzur Rahman Siddiqui, Senior Research Fellow, ICWA delved on the regional and global issues of concern. The growing significance of multilateral institutions such as BRICS and the Indo-Pacific was emphasized by the speakers. The dialogue concluded with emphasis on the regional crisis - Syrian crisis, Gaza war and Yemen crisis are a concern for human security in the region and need utmost attention of the global community.

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