India and Saudi Arabia have discussed the feasibility of institutionalising Rupee-Riyal trade and the introduction of UPI and Rupay cards in Saudi Arabia during the two-day visit of Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal to Riyadh, an official statement on Monday (19 September).

The issues were discussed during a meeting between Goyal and his Saudi Arabian Commerce Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al-Kassabi.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed diversification and expansion of trade and commerce, removal of trade barriers, including the outstanding issues related to sanitary and phytosanitary measures and trade remedies.

They also discussed "automatic registration and marketing authorisation of Indian pharma products in Saudi Arabia, feasibility of institutionalizing Rupee-Riyal trade, introduction of UPI and Rupay cards in Saudi Arabia; were amongst the key points of discussion," the Commerce Ministry said in a statement.

During his visit, Goyal also attended the Ministerial meeting of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council.

The Strategic Partnership Council was instituted in October 2019 during the visit of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Saudi Arabia, and has two main pillars i.e. Political, Security, Social and Cultural Committee and the Committee on Economy and Investments.

In the meeting, the two sides discussed streamlining efforts to realise the announcement made by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, during his visit to India in February 2019, of investments worth $100 billion in India.

Both countries have reaffirmed continued cooperation in joint projects including the West coast refinery, LNG infrastructure investment and development of strategic petroleum storage facilities in India, the ministry said.

Further, the Council also endorsed 41 areas of cooperation identified by the technical teams under the four broad domains of Agriculture and Food Security; Energy; Technology and IT; and Industry and Infrastructure.