Saudi prince expects investment worth more than $100 bln in India

NON-OIL TRADE

On trade relations, the crown prince said "we expect the opportunities we are targeting in India in various fields to exceed $100 billion in the coming two years".

Sectors of interest included energy, infrastructure, agriculture and manufacturing, Tirumurti said, adding that Saudi Arabia's focus was on expanding non-oil trade with India.

Giant petroleum and natural gas company Saudi Aramco said it was in talks with India's Reliance Industries Ltd for possible investments and was seeking other opportunities.

Both India and Pakistan had expected a scaling up of investments on the crown prince's first tour of the region since the storm over the murder of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and critic of the Saudi government, at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.

The killing has strained Saudi Arabia’s ties with the West and battered the prince’s image abroad. He is also visiting China on this trip.

The European Commission has added Saudi Arabia to an EU draft list of countries that pose a threat to the bloc because of lax controls against terrorism financing and money laundering, sources told Reuters last month.

Modi has sought to use India's fast-growing economy to attract more investment from Saudi Arabia and other Islamic nations since he took office.

The two countries signed agreements on investment in infrastructure, housing sector and tourism.