Jaishankar lands in Riyadh to attend landmark India-GCC Foreign Ministers' meet, to also visit Germany, Switzerland

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar arrived in Riyadh on September 9 to attend the First India-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister for Protocol Affairs, Abdulmajeed Al Smari, welcomed Jaishankar in Riyadh. Jaishankar is on a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia from September 8-9. 

During his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia’s capital, Jaishankar is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with foreign ministers from GCC member countries, according to a Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) release. 

“India and the GCC enjoy a deep and multifaceted relationship, in areas including political, trade & investment, energy cooperation, cultural and people-to-people ties. The GCC region has emerged as a major trading partner for India and is home to a large Indian expatriate community, numbering around 8.9 million. The Foreign Ministers meeting will be an opportunity to review and deepen institutional cooperation between India and the GCC across various sectors,” the MEA release said. 

After concluding his Riyadh visit, the EAM is scheduled to travel to Germany for a two-day visit from September 10-11 for his first bilateral visit to Berlin. 

During his visit, Jaishankar will meet the German Federal Foreign Minister as well as the leadership and other ministers from the German government with an objective to review the entire gamut of bilateral relations between India and Germany, according to the MEA release. 

The External Affairs Minister will thereafter travel to Geneva, Switzerland, for an official visit from September 12-13. During the visit, the External Affairs Minister will meet with heads and representatives of international organisations with whom India is actively engaged. 

Jaishankar will also meet his Switzerland counterpart to review the close partnership between the two nations and explore avenues to enhance the bilateral relationship further.