'Worthwhile recalling': Congress invokes Nehru’s 1956 visit as PM Modi heads to Saudi

NEW DELHI: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the Congress party revisited a key moment in India's diplomatic history, former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s trip to the Middle Eastern kingdom in 1956 following the first-ever state visit of then Saudi King to India a year earlier.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh shared archival footage on social media from both events, saying, “As the Prime Minister begins his visit to Saudi Arabia, it is worthwhile recalling the first visit of the Saudi King to India that took place in Nov-Dec 1955.”

He wrote that King Saud Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud spent 17 days in India, travelling extensively across cities including New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Varanasi.
Ramesh pointed out that the Saudi monarch’s visit overlapped with that of Soviet leaders Nikita Khrushchev and Nikolai Bulganin, who also toured India from November 18 to 30, 1955, and again from December 7 to 14 that year.
Nehru’s return visit to Saudi Arabia took place from September 24 to 28, 1956.
The Congress’s throwback comes as PM Modi embarks on his third visit to the kingdom, highlighting continuity and change in India’s foreign engagements. According to ANI, this also marks his first visit to the historic city of Jeddah and his 15th to a Gulf country since assuming office in 2014.
In his departure statement, PM Modi emphasised the evolving nature of India-Saudi ties and said, “India deeply values its long and historic ties with Saudi Arabia that have acquired strategic depth and momentum in recent years. Together, we have developed a mutually beneficial and substantive partnership including in the domains of defence, trade, investment, energy and people-to-people ties.”
Calling Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman his “brother”, PM Modi added, “I look forward to participating in the second Meeting of the Strategic Partnership Council and build upon the highly successful State visit of my brother His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman to India in 2023.”
PM Modi’s aircraft was escorted by F-15 fighter jets of the Royal Saudi Air Force as it entered the kingdom’s airspace, marking a special gesture by the host country.
He is also scheduled to visit a factory where Indian workers are employed and interact with the diaspora, which he described as a “living bridge” between the two nations.
Foreign secretary Vikram Misri said the visit provides an important platform to discuss regional and global developments, including the Israel-Palestine conflict and maritime security challenges in West Asia.