Saudi Arabia, India sign military cooperation pact

[al-Hasani]

Oh Yes we do. Kerala is one of the chief producers of Coffee.

Similar landscapes, located next to the coast and a somewhat similar latitude although Kerala is more southernly located. No wonder.

Goa is located at a somewhat similar latitude as the southernmost Arabian Peninsula. More fitting comparison but are both regions not similar?

I mean Goa and Kerala?

Which language do you guys speak in Kerala and Goa?

 

[venu309]

Yeah, that's right. The weather, soil. landscape etc in Kerala are good for Coffee, cocoa, rubber, spices etc

 

[anonymus]

Nice one. Are you from Kerala? That's the region the Arabian Peninsula have had 5000 year old ties with. Probably even longer when taking the human migrations into account that came from the Arabian Peninsula and from there to the remaining world.

I do like it a lot. The photos remind me of the regions of Southern KSA, Yemen and the people seem very friendly especially those I know in real life.

Islam also reached that part of South Asia before any other.

Islam in India - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Islam in Kerala - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

India's west coast has probably highest ethnic diversity in South India.

It has substantial population of Arabs and Syrian Christians in Kerala ( there used to be large Jewish community also but most of them have migrated to Israel) and Zoroastrian in Mumbai and some Portuguese in goa. Muslims converts in Kerala are called malipas.

Linguistically also, this reigon has 8 language realms, Malayalam in Kerala, Tulu and Kannada in Karnataka, Marathi and Konkani in Maharashtra, Portuguese and konkani in Goa and daman and diu and Gujarati in Gujarat.

This too in a narrow coastal strip of 30-200 Km wide.

 

[p(-)0ENiX]

Of course, one cannot break ties over night, neither should that be the goal.

But you do agree that this blind trust that millions of our compatriots have in our "brotherly Islamic" countries is very dangerous for the National well being of Pakistan, do you not??

So dangerous, that if tomorrow some Saudi religious cleric/sheikh/scholar declares a Jihad against a certain segment of our society due to its difference with Saudi interests/views, half the country would be in flames.

This false perception, that because the two holiest sites of Islam reside in a monarchy known as Saudi Arabia, thus defending the Saudi apparatus takes precedence over defending even ones own country and people. In such a situation brainwashed individuals would be willing to even sellout national secrets to the enemy and serve as agents of sabotage.

This cannot be allowed. Pakistan comes first before any country!!

Whether they took our concerns into consideration when dealing with our number one enemy or not, that is the least of my concern. How much they invest in Pakistan, that too is the least of my concerns, for we can get the same if not more investment from other countries. What concerns me is that some Pakistanis who have never set foot on Saudi (or any other Arab soil) give priority to that state over their own. That their is recipe for disaster!!!

To weaken this influence we need propaganda, and this development serves as the perfect fuel for the fire.

We shouldn't aim to break or ruin ties with any country at all unless we are sure that they aim to harm us. Besides, I already told you why using this development as propaganda is unacceptable. The one point that I agree with you on is that some Pakistanis do have an unnatural infatuation with other Muslim countries & in some cases even people. However, I don't believe that they would be stupid enough to endanger our national well being or security for their flawed perception of Muslim unity. Every Pakistani realizes that Pakistan is his or her homeland & that our population shares a common heritage & bond that can't be broken by foreign powers. The harm that we have observed so far is that Pakistanis might put another Muslim majority country's problem above their own resulting in the severing of ties with someone else that might or could have been useful to Pakistan in the future. The other problems that you have described result from the misunderstanding of religion, & a lack of patriotism & nationalism coupled with let's say a bit of an inferiority complex. All of these issues can be resolved by eradicating religious misconceptions, monitoring religious courses, materials, preachers, fatwas, etc. Once our own religious scholars are educated, & our people are taught independent thinking, critical reasoning, & logic, they are extremely unlikely to fall for any tricks or deceptions of foreign powers, scholars, or leaders. In fact, they will stop paying too much attention to ridiculous conspiracy theories as well & learn to take their destiny in to their own hands.

What some people fail to realize is that just because Saudi Arabia happens to contain the 2 holiest sites of Islam does not imply that the country itself is holy or that the people are to be respected simply on account of the fact that Islam as we know it originated there. Nations & people in general earn respect by their character, accomplishments, ambitions, et cetera & this implies that respect is given to those that deserve it regardless of their religious or ethnic affiliations. Similarly, the other issues that the country faces must be eliminated by reducing illiteracy, educating the populace, & arousing patriotic & nationalistic feelings alongside getting people to become proud of their own origins, heritage, & history. Don't forget about the importance of good governance either, which can largely eliminate many of the problems we face. Corruption, tax evasion, & the absence of justice are just an example of problems resulting from bad governance & mismanagement. If these issues aren't resolved then the population's resentment for the government & national institutions will continue to rise. That's what leads to chaos in a country. As far as Islam is concerned, the religion has no issue with countries serving their own interests just as long as we do not harm innocents or violate religious laws. Besides, a desire to protect religious sites is present among the followers of pretty much any religion. There is nothing wrong with that, & I doubt any community would be ok with the violation of their holy sites, but it should have no impact on people pursuing their own national interests. Getting back to nationalism, our Indo-Iranian heritage, culture, & languages provide a powerful bond for the unity of our country & people apart from other factors like religion.

 

[al-Hasani]

India's west coast has probably highest ethnic diversity in South India.

It has substantial population of Arabs and Syrian Christians in Kerala ( there used to be large Jewish community also but most of them have migrated to Israel) and Zoroastrian in Mumbai and some Portuguese in goa. Muslims converts in Kerala are called malipas.

Linguistically also, this reigon has 8 language realms, Malayalam in Kerala, Tulu and Kannada in Karnataka, Marathi and Konkani in Maharashtra, Portuguese and konkani in Goa and daman and diu and Gujarati in Gujarat.

This too in a narrow coastal strip of 30-200 Km wide.

Thanks for that information bro. May I ask where you are from in India or your family?

How about Gujarat btw? Situated on the same Western side of India. Must have ancient ties too with the ME - mainly Arabian Peninsula,

Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah was apparently of Gujarati ancestry. Seems like a very hot place.

 

[venu309]

@al-Hasani, you & few KSA posters are good & decent posters, I'm sorry you sometimes get trolled by certain Indian posters, but then some of them are pathological trolls & troll anybody & everybody, without rhyme or reason.

 

[al-Hasani]

@al-Hasani, you & few KSA posters are good & decent posters, I'm sorry you sometimes get trolled by certain Indian posters, but then some of them are pathological trolls & troll anybody & everybody, without rhyme or reason.

We are talking about 2-3 Indian users if not only 2 if I recall. Nothing that I care about.

I do find a lot of Indian users good to chat with.

 

[anonymus]

Very nice. There seem to be a lot of Indians from Kerala. All friendly.

Tell me do you grow coffee beans as well? Because Yemen grows both that and tea. As do some parts of KSA.

While some coffee is grown in Kerala. it is not the primary producer. Karnataka which is a state north of Kerala is a major producer of coffee. Coffee produced in Baba budan hills is considered one of the best in world.

For coffee production, slope and shade is a required even more than favorable temperature and humidity.

 

[p(-)0ENiX]

This is the most important point that most of the ranting fanboi's are ignoring; Pakistan, at least the decision-makers may not have a problem with Indo-Saudi defense cooperation. Chances of India going to War with Pakistan today are similar to it going to war with Iceland.Instead with the tragi-comedy that is going on in pakistan, if India invades pakistan, it would be doing pakistan a great favour.

The chances of nuclear powered nations going to war is highly unlikely unless they both desire to commit suicide. I am offended by your statement that India invading Pakistan would be a favor. That is not true, we are both different nations representing our own civilizations, & everyone of us values our independence. No nation on Earth enjoys the prospect of submitting to a foreign ruler. Anyway, Pakistan faces plenty of issues, but the people are finally becoming more aware of those issues, paying greater attention to them & subsequently, so is their desire to resolve those issues. That's what I have observed among the optimists trying to change things for the better, but as always there are some pessimists present among us too. It's not difficult to understand that people dislike living in misery & are eventually bound to come to their senses in order to improve their standards of living.

 

[Zarvan]

I don't know why some people are jumping up and down for rice export agreement. LOL.

A military cooperation ! Doesn't sound big news to me for the fact that it will not go beyond exchanging visits and counter-terror cooperation. No arm deals whatsoever. India will not risk it knowing that any military hardware in the hand of Saudi Arabia is in the hand of Pakistan.

Cooperation in the field of energy, infrastructure, scientific reachers, trade and investments, telecommunication…etc.

That will definitely not going against Pakistan interests in anyway considering the visit came after Pakistan, China, Japan.

Saudi Arabia has alos singed defense cooperation and joint ventures in defense production with Pakistan recently. It has also and for the third time financing Pakistan Neelum-Jhelum and Golen-Gol hydropower projects. Not to mention the $10 billion oil agreement. Pakistan a strategic ally and her national security is a priority to Saudi Arabia. Pakistan military bases on our soil and the full access to our military hardwares are my witnesses.

Why overestimating the outcome of this news !


@al-Hasani @Yzd Khalifa @Aeronaut @Armstrong @BATMAN @salman108 @Zarvan @WebMaster @Irfan Baloch

Well I don't mind you can get some weapons from Saudi Arabia specially that light Attack helicopter it would be good use for SANG and also if they sell you that Pirhana Missile System

 

[anonymus]

Thanks for that information bro. May I ask where you are from in India or your family?

How about Gujarat btw? Situated on the same Western site of India. Must have ancient ties too with the ME - mainly Arabian Peninsula,

Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah was apparently of Gujarati ancestry. Seems like a very hot place.

I am from UP. Mother from Delhi and Father from adjacent city of Noida.



During Indus valley civilization,Lothal a port is Gujarat was the nerve center of Maritime Trade ( being only port in IVC ) and thus had ties with Mesopotamia and by extension Arabia also but ties with Arab world did not developed as much as Kerala for following reasons.

1. Kerala is primary producer of spices which were in great demand before the advent of refrigeration technology and thus had greater contact with Arab merchants.

2. The rulers of Gujarat at time when major Arab migration was taking place were anti-Muslim at that time ( due to wars with Arabs in Sindh).

India was ruled by three dynasties during 700 BC. Out of which Gujara-Pratihara dynasty which was ruling Western India at that time fought major wars with descendents of Mir qasim. Even though they won finally but they still remained hostile to arabs compared to rashtrakutas in South.

Gurjara-Pratihara - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Battle of Rajasthan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But even Gujarat has some Arab community. I forgot to mention it initially.

Dawoodi Bohra - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Zarvan]

I don't know why some people are jumping up and down for rice export agreement. LOL.

A military cooperation ! Doesn't sound big news to me for the fact that it will not go beyond exchanging visits and counter-terror cooperation. No arm deals whatsoever. India will not risk it knowing that any military hardware in the hand of Saudi Arabia is in the hand of Pakistan.

Cooperation in the field of energy, infrastructure, scientific reachers, trade and investments, telecommunication…etc.

That will definitely not going against Pakistan interests in anyway considering the visit came after Pakistan, China, Japan.

Saudi Arabia has alos singed defense cooperation and joint ventures in defense production with Pakistan recently. It has also and for the third time financing Pakistan Neelum-Jhelum and Golen-Gol hydropower projects. Not to mention the $10 billion oil agreement. Pakistan a strategic ally and her national security is a priority to Saudi Arabia. Pakistan military bases on our soil and the full access to our military hardwares are my witnesses.

Why overestimating the outcome of this news !


@al-Hasani @Yzd Khalifa @Aeronaut @Armstrong @BATMAN @salman108 @Zarvan @WebMaster @Irfan Baloch

Well I don't mind you can get some weapons from Saudi Arabia specially that light Attack helicopter it would be good use for SANG and also if they sell you that Pirhana Missile System

 

[anonymus]

The chances of nuclear powered nations going to war is highly unlikely unless they both desire to commit suicide. I am offended by your statement that India invading Pakistan would be a favor. That is not true, we are both different nations representing our own civilizations, & everyone of us values our independence. No nation on Earth enjoys the prospect of submitting to a foreign ruler. Anyway, Pakistan faces plenty of issues, but the people are finally becoming more aware of those issues, paying greater attention to them & subsequently, so is their desire to resolve those issues. That's what I have observed among the optimists trying to change things for the better, but as always there are some pessimists present among us too. It's not difficult to understand that people dislike living in misery & are eventually bound to come to their senses in order to improve their standards of living.

By favour, i meant that it would unite pakistanis, not that Indian occupation would be a favour.

 

[Water Car Engineer]

Yes, I'm originally from Kerala, but my parents had migrated to Mumbai when they were young & so I was born in Mumbai.

Judaism, Islam, and Christianity all came into Kerala before other parts of the Indian Subcontinent. This is due to the already established trade link between Kerala and the M.E.

 

[Yzd Khalifa]

Holly sh!t! That's looks like a lot of money

@anonymus

RIYADH: GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN

Published — Friday 28 February 2014

Saudi and Indian companies promote new joint ventures | Arab News — Saudi Arabia News, Middle East News, Opinion, Economy and more.

Saudi and Indian companies promote new joint ventures
Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, has met with a number of Indian businessmen including business tycoon M. A. Yusuffali in New Delhi.

The audience with the crown prince was followed by talks between Commerce and Industry Minister Tawfiq Al-Rabiah and his Indian counterpart Anand Sharma as well as several individual business meetings in New Delhi.

Yusuffali, chief of the Lulu Group, announced an ambitious plan to open 15 Lulu Hypermarkets in Saudi Arabia during the next two years following his meeting with Crown Prince Salman and other senior Saudi officials.
Besides the Lulu’s plans to open 42 new hypermarkets in the Middle East including 15 in Saudi Arabia, four other major agreements involving Saudi and Indian companies were signed on the sidelines of the visit.

The issue of taxation of capital gains, meanwhile, figured prominently at the India-Saudi Business Forum organized jointly by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Council of Saudi Chambers in New Delhi.
Referring to the new business deals signed by the Saudi and Indian companies, a statement from the FICCI said chairmen of Al-Qahtani Group Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Qahtani and Indian firm SledgeHammer Oil Tools Pradeep Mohanty signed a joint venture agreement for setting up a plant for oil drilling products in Saudi Arabia.
On the other hand, Yusuf bin Ahmed Kanoo Company and India’s Seaworld Shipping and Logistics signed a joint venture to establish a joint logistic and shipping network.
The third agreement was signed by the KRBL Limited of India and Omar Ali Balsharaf Est to supply 165,000 tons of Basmati rice to the Kingdom, while Al Rabiah & Partners and India’s Novatech had signed deal for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) business and supply of industrial equipments to the Saudi firm.
Several other Indian and Saudi companies evinced keen interest to set up joint-ventures in other sectors on the sidelines of the visit.
Referring to the capital gains tax, which is a major hurdle in promoting Saudi investments in Commerce and Industry Minister Tawfiq Al-Rabiah said: “The issue of taxation of capital gains continues to be a major impediment in promoting Saudi investment in India, and I call on the Indian authorities to explore relaxation of this issue.”
He added: “I would also like to emphasize on the importance of the activation of the Saudi Indian Joint Fund.”
Anand Sharma, Indian minister of commerce and industry, who held talks with Al-Rabiah, commented: “India and Saudi Arabia have also agreed to work toward deeper economic engagement including through more investments, joint ventures and technology transfers.”
Both the ministers stressed on the need to transform the buyer-seller relationship, into one of deeper energy partnership with investments in petrochemical complexes, modernization of refineries, and joint ventures.
Both the ministers stressed the need to ink a free trade agreement between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and India for boosting trade and commercial ties.
The GCC and India have identified sectors like petroleum and oil, gas and fertilizers and information technology among other to be given focus. Sharma highlighted the need to diversify India’s export to Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi side also raised the issue of anti-dumping duty imposed on various items of their industry is detrimental for the trade relation between the two countries.
The Indian side explained that the anti-dumping duties in India are imposed after due diligence and is a quasi judicial exercise.
Sharma said India had withdrawn anti-dumping duties from two items i.e. polypropylene and pentaerythritol.
Sharma also invited Saudi investors to actively participate in the construction projects for highways, ports, airports, metros, supply chains and warehousing and power plants in India. Saudi Arabia and India have forged closer ties in trade.
In fact, the trade has grown significantly to exceed $43 billion in 2012-13.
There is need to diversify trade relations to non-oil trade sectors. Sharma said Indian globally-reputed companies, with expertise in infrastructure development are keen to work in upcoming projects in Saudi Arabia.