NEW DELHI: Ext ernal Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee is set to begin a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia from Monday, keeping up New Delhi's growing tempo of engagement with West Asia.

Mr. Mukherjee's visit to Riyadh comes days after Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed represented India at the 19th summit of the Arab League in the Saudi capital on March 28-29.

Mr. Mukherjee's trip is also being seen as a precursor to a possible visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Saudi Arabia later this year. The Saudi Government has recently raised its profile on the international stage, by helping to form a Palestinian Unity Government and increasing the level of Riyadh's engagement with Tehran.

Recently, there has been a spate of high-level visits to New Delhi by Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates Shaikh Mohammaed bin Rashid al Maktoum; Crown Prince of Bahrain, Shaikh Salman bin Hamad al Khalifa; and Emir of Kuwait, Shaikh Sabah al-Jaber al-Ahmed al-Sabah. According to Government sources, a whopping $20 billion worth of business-to-business deals were signed during the visit of the UAE Prime Minister, who is also the ruler of Dubai.

Last year, King Abdullah of Jordan and Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud visited India, with the Saudi monarch being accorded the honour of being the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations on January 26, 2006.

Support to Arab causes

In a message to the Saudi King on the occasion of the Arab League summit in Riyadh, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that India had always extended "principled and consistent" support to Arab causes.

"I am happy to inform your majesty that we have had very productive and wide-ranging consultations within the framework of the memorandum of understanding between India and the League of Arab States," Dr. Singh said.

Mr. Ahamed, who read out the Prime Minister's message at the summit, said India believed in finding solutions to problems through peaceful dialogue, discussion and reconciliation among different groups.

The Minister of State reiterated India's strong support to the "just and legitimate rights" of the Palestinian people, the cause of Palestine and to the establishment of the State of Palestine.

Commending the Saudi King for his role in helping the formation of a Palestinian Government of National Unity, Mr. Ahamed said India, too, welcomed this development.

Reconciliation

According to Mr. Ahamed, the formation of the new Government signalled reconciliation and cooperation among the Palestinians. India, he stated, encouraged all parties concerned to work towards resumption of dialogue in the peace process as a follow-up.

He felt there were great complementarities between Indian and Arab economies. Pointing out that just under five million Indians lived in the Arab world, he said New Delhi welcomed Arab investors and chambers of commerce to take advantage of India's booming economy.

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