The visit of the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz to India, the first by a Saudi monarch in 51 years, is a recognition of a major shift in India's relationship with the Gulf states, centred in rapidly changing attitudes in Delhi and Riyadh.
Apart from the fact that King Abdullah's look-east policy finds a happy meeting ground with the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's look-west policy, India's search for energy security remains a primary focus. Assurances by the kingdom of an uninterrupted supply of oil and gas at competitive prices is music to the ears of energy hungry India.
During his three-day visit, the king will see Delhi taking the energy quotient forward. It is pitching for greater Saudi investment in developing its petroleum products, offering Indian expertise to build Saudi Arabia's gas terminals and pipelines.
The relationship between India and Saudi Arabia have traditionally been rooted in their respective Islamic identities. India's 150 million Muslims have always seen Saudi Arabia as their spiritual sheet anchor. With 300,000 Indian pilgrims heading to Saudi Arabia every year for pilgrimage, India's interest in securing a safe environment for its citizens is that much higher.
More crucially, while Delhi has been accused, in the recent past, of ignoring the plight of four million labourers in the region, the Saudi pardon of an Indian worker sentenced to lose his eye for an eye, is a good augury for both India and Saudi Arabia.
India and Saudi Arabia have shared concerns in the region on Iran, instability in Iraq and their relations with Pakistan. While India's IT success and potential regional power status may be the initial draw, both nations must seek to sustain their newfound momentum, and synergise to mutual satisfaction the interests of the two major powers in the larger West Asian region.
