New Delhi, Sep 5 (UNI) India and Saudi Arabia discussed new avenues to further strengthen the long standing and multi-faceted defence cooperation at the sixth edition of Joint Committee on Defence Cooperation (JCDC) meeting held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Detailed deliberations were held at the meeting that took place on Wednesday, to expand the scope of engagement and cooperation in areas such as military, training, defence industry, R&D and others, an official statement said.

India and Saudi Arabia enjoy cordial and friendly relations founded on the centuries old economic and socio-cultural ties.

The MoU on Defence Cooperation provides a framework for defence collaboration between the two countries. Joint Defence Cooperation Committee is an institutional mechanism under the MoU to promote the objectives of defence cooperation.

The Indian delegation, led by Joint Secretary Amitabh Prasad and included officials from Ministry of Defence.

The meeting was co-chaired by Major General Salman Bin Awadh Al-Harbi from the Saudi Arabia delegation.

UNI RBE CS1541