India, Saudi Arabia hold 7th Joint Defence Committee meeting in Delhi

The 7th meeting of the India-Saudi Arabia Joint Committee on Defence Cooperation (JCDC) was held in New Delhi on Thursday (August 28, 2025).

The talks were co-chaired by Joint Secretary Amitabh Prasad from the Indian side and Staff Maj. Gen. Saad Mohammed H. Alkathiri from the Saudi side.

According to the Ministry of Defence, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral defence cooperation and noted the progress made in implementing key decisions from the previous JCDC meeting. Discussions covered training cooperation, industrial partnerships, maritime collaboration and joint military exercises.

India offered to provide training to the Saudi Armed Forces and explored avenues of cooperation in cyber security, IT, disaster management and tactical communications. The Indian delegation also showcased indigenous defence manufacturing capabilities and proposed opportunities for joint production and equipment partnerships with Saudi Arabia, the Ministry added.

The two sides expressed satisfaction over the successful conduct of Navy and Army Staff Talks this year and agreed to maintain regular deliberations.

The steadily growing defence partnership between India and Saudi Arabia received a boost with the creation of a Ministerial Committee on Defence Cooperation under the Strategic Partnership Council, established during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Riyadh in April 2025.