Research tie-ups with Saudi Arabia growing

In the last decade, India has seen a 10-fold increase in its research collaboration with Saudi Arabia, according to a study commissioned by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and conducted by Thomson Reuters.

In the period 2005-2008, Saudi Arabia was only the 20th most prolific contributor of India, with 123 jointly-authored papers involving Indian and Saudi Arabian researchers. This has skyrocketed to 1,303 in 2013-2014, making the oil rich kingdom India’s 12th most important contributor, surpassing Switzerland, Russia, The Netherlands and Poland. In other words, from having merely 0.1 per cent of India’s total collaborative research publication output in 2005, Saudi Arabia contributes now 1.25 per cent — a 10-fold increase. In comparison, the U.S. has only increased from 6.67 per cent to 7.47 per cent.

“This was a voluminous report that looked at various aspects of India’s research publication trends….we will look at the Saudi Arabia aspect more closely shortly. It’s an interesting find,” said by DST official involved with commissioning the study.

Saudi Arabia’s engagement with India is a point highlighted by the various of search engines. “Collaboration with Saudi Arabian universities increased dramatically… Many Saudi Arabian institutions now rank among India’s top 10 collaborating organisations.”

For their analysis, the report employs a tool called ‘Web of Science’, a popular, online search tool, used often by scientists to search for research related to their sub-fields. The most prolific Saudi Arabian university mentioned in the analysis is the King Saud University, which is now among the top collaborators with Indian institutions.

Key analysis:-

INDIA-SAUDI BILATERAL RELATIONS

India and Saudi Arabia enjoy cordial and friendly relations reflecting the centuries old economic and socio-cultural ties. The establishment of diplomatic relations in 1947 was followed by high-level visits from both sides. King Saud visited India in 1955 and the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru visited the Kingdom in 1956. The visit of the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to Saudi Arabia in 1982 further boosted the bilateral relations. In the recent times, the historic visit of King Abdullah to India in 2006 resulted in signing of ‘Delhi Declaration’ imparting a fresh momentum to the bilateral relationship. The visit provided the framework for cooperation in all fields of mutual interest. The reciprocal visit by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to Saudi Arabia in 2010 raised the level of bilateral engagement to ‘Strategic Partnership’ and the ‘Riyadh Declaration’ signed during the visit captured the spirit of enhanced cooperation in political, economic, security and defence realms. In February 2014, during the visit of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to India (now King), a Joint Statement was issued. In November 2015, on the sidelines of G20 meeting in Antalya, Turkey, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi met with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and discussed areas of bilateral interest.

Bilateral Agreements/MoUs:
The bilateral Agreements and MoUs signed are as follows:
 

1. Signing of ‘Delhi Declaration’ in 2006 during the visit of King Abdullah; it laid the roadmap for bilateral cooperation;

2. Signing of ‘Riyadh Declaration’ in 2010 during Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s visit to Riyadh. It raised the level of interaction to ‘Strategic Partnership’ in the political, economy, security and defence realms;

3. MoU for Foreign Office Consultations;

4. MoU on the Establishment of Joint Business Council  between Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CSCCI) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI);

5. Bilateral Promotion and Protection of Investments (BIPA);

6. Agreement on Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Tax Evasion (DTAA);

7. MoU on Combating Crime;

8. Agreement in the field of Youth and Sports;

9. MoU of Scientific and Educational Co-operation between the Ministry of HRD, India and Ministry of Higher Education, KSA;

10. Extradition Treaty;

11. Agreement on Transfer of Sentenced Persons;

12. MoU for Cooperation in Peaceful Use of Outer Space;

13. Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation;

14. MoU between Centre for Development of Advance Computing (C-DAC) and  King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology (KACST) on cooperation in Information  Technology and Services;

15. Agreement on News Cooperation between Saudi Press Agency (SPA) and Press Trust of  India (PTI);

16. MoU on Cultural Cooperation;

17. Agreement on Labour Cooperation for Domestic Service Workers Recruitment.

18. MoU on Defence Cooperation.

19. Joint Statement issued in February 2014 during the visit of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to India.

 

Economic & Commercial Relations:

Saudi Arabia today is our 4th largest trade partner and is a major source of energy as we import around 19% of our crude oil requirement. During 2014-15, our bilateral trade reached USD 39.3 billion registering a decrease of 19.24% compared to 2013-14 (USD 48.62 billion) due to sharp decline in oil prices since June 2014. During this period, our imports from Saudi Arabia reached USD 28.1 billion, registering a decline of 22.79% over previous year whereas our exports to Saudi Arabia reached USD 11.2 billion registering a decline of 8.65% over previous year. Saudi Arabia is the 5^th largest market in the world for Indian exports and is destination of 3.6% of India’s global exports. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia is the source of 6.3% of India’s global imports. For Saudi Arabia as per 2014 data, India is the 5^th largest market for its exports, accounting for 8.87% of its global exports. In terms of imports by Saudi Arabia, India ranks 7^th and is source of around 3.61% of Saudi Arabia’s total imports. Review meeting for the 11^th JCM was held in Riyadh on December 29, 2015.

The import of crude oil by India forms a major component of bilateral trade with Saudi Arabia being India’s largest supplier of crude oil, accounting for almost one-fifth of its needs. MoS (IC) for Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan visited Kingdom from October 27-29, 2014 and held 2nd bilateral energy consultations with HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. MoS (IC) also held a bilateral meeting with Saudi Petroleum and Mineral Resource Minister Eng. Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi and matters of mutual cooperation were discussed. He was accompanied by the Chairmen of IOC, HPCL & GAIL.