India-Saudi Arabia relations, or Indo-Saudi relations, refers to the bilateral relationship between the Republic of India and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Trade and cultural links between ancient India and Arabia date back to third millennium BC. By 1000 AD, the trade relations between southern India and Arabia flourished and became the backbone of the Arabian economy. Arab traders held a monopoly over the spice trade between India and Europe until the rise of European imperialist empires. India was one of the first nations to establish ties with the Third Saudi State. During the 1930s, India heavily funded Nejd through financial subsidies. Formal diplomatic relations between contemporary India and Saudi Arabia were established soon after India gained independence in 1947. Relations between the two countries have strengthened considerably owing to cooperation in regional affairs and trade. Saudi Arabia is one of the largest suppliers of oil to India, who is one of the top seven trading partners and the fifth biggest investor in Saudi Arabia.

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The shipping sector plays an important role in Indian economy. Almost 90 percent of the country's trade by volume is conducted via sea and the country boasts of having the largest merchant shipping fleet among the developing nations. The Indian shipping industry not only transport national and international cargoes, but also provides various others facilities such as ship building, ship repairing, lighthouse facilities freight forwarding etc. with Globalization and liberalization the Indian shipping industry is all set to acquire new dimensions in terms of demand and infrastructural development. In order to resist stiff competition posed by foreign companies, the Indian shipping companies are striving to bring about rapid transformation. Therefore, the present paper examines measures initiated by the Indian Govt. to improve ports and Shipping Industry. The paper also focuses on the Key challenges faced by the Industry.

The current economic and financial crisis was driven by the reversal of the three positive 'shocks' that developing countries experienced during the recent boom period: exceptional financing, high commodity prices and , for a significant number of countries, large flows of remittances. No country in the world will be spared from the effects of the financial crisis and ensuing global recession. The paper focuses Saudi Arabia; it has completely shifted the focus of economic policy from controlling inflation to restoring confidence in the financial sector. We see the following key implication for the Saudi economy. Finance for local and foreign companies doing business in Kingdom will be less easily available and more expensive .Lower oil revenues will mean the end to the huge budget and current account surpluses in coming years .If the crisis encourage Arab government to restructure their economies, they will be better placed when the international economy picks up Saudi Arabia and some other Gulf States are taking these challenges much more seriously than in the past. They are investing large sums in upstream hydrocarbon projects to get more value from their oil, and are trying to diversify their economies away from petroleum products.