India and Saudi Arabia on 19 December signed a reciprocal short-stay visa-exemption agreement that will allow holders of diplomatic, special and official passports to travel between the two countries without first applying for a visa. The accord was inked at the Saudi foreign-ministry headquarters in Riyadh by Deputy Minister for Protocol Affairs Abdulmajeed Al-Smari and India’s ambassador Dr Suhel Ajaz Khan.
Although the deal targets only a narrow category of travellers, mobility experts say it removes a time-consuming administrative hurdle and should accelerate high-level visits, joint-committee meetings and project monitoring across energy, defence and infrastructure. Officials note that delays of up to four weeks for Saudi visa stickers had become common for Indian delegations, occasionally causing last-minute itinerary changes and cost overruns for government contractors.
The move comes amid a broader upswing in India-Gulf relations. Bilateral trade topped US $52 billion in FY 2025, and the two governments recently expanded the Strategic Partnership Council to cover semiconductors, green hydrogen and tourism. Easing official-level travel is expected to speed up negotiations on those initiatives and help both sides meet aggressive project timelines tied to Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 programme and India’s National Logistics Policy.
![India-Saudi Arabia sign short-stay visa-free travel pact for diplomatic & official passport holders]()
Amid these rapid policy shifts, travellers can benefit from expert assistance: VisaHQ’s India portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/) tracks every update in real time and offers end-to-end support for Saudi tourist, business and work visas, from document compilation to appointment scheduling and courier logistics, letting mobility teams concentrate on mission-critical tasks.
For corporate mobility managers the immediate impact is limited—ordinary business travellers still need visas—but the precedent is significant. Similar diplomatic waivers with the UAE and Qatar eventually paved the way for wider e-visa and visa-on-arrival facilities. Policy analysts therefore see yesterday’s pact as a confidence-building step that could be expanded to include short business visits once border-security assessments are completed.
Practical tip: multinational companies that second staff on government projects should update their travel-approval matrix. Where team members hold official or diplomatic passports issued by India’s Ministry of External Affairs, the new exemption removes the need to budget time for paperwork, but travellers must still carry a note verbale and ensure their passport explicitly states its status. Indian missions will issue a formal circular in the coming week outlining entry-stamp procedures at Saudi airports.
Although the deal targets only a narrow category of travellers, mobility experts say it removes a time-consuming administrative hurdle and should accelerate high-level visits, joint-committee meetings and project monitoring across energy, defence and infrastructure. Officials note that delays of up to four weeks for Saudi visa stickers had become common for Indian delegations, occasionally causing last-minute itinerary changes and cost overruns for government contractors.
The move comes amid a broader upswing in India-Gulf relations. Bilateral trade topped US $52 billion in FY 2025, and the two governments recently expanded the Strategic Partnership Council to cover semiconductors, green hydrogen and tourism. Easing official-level travel is expected to speed up negotiations on those initiatives and help both sides meet aggressive project timelines tied to Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 programme and India’s National Logistics Policy.
Amid these rapid policy shifts, travellers can benefit from expert assistance: VisaHQ’s India portal (https://www.visahq.com/india/) tracks every update in real time and offers end-to-end support for Saudi tourist, business and work visas, from document compilation to appointment scheduling and courier logistics, letting mobility teams concentrate on mission-critical tasks.
For corporate mobility managers the immediate impact is limited—ordinary business travellers still need visas—but the precedent is significant. Similar diplomatic waivers with the UAE and Qatar eventually paved the way for wider e-visa and visa-on-arrival facilities. Policy analysts therefore see yesterday’s pact as a confidence-building step that could be expanded to include short business visits once border-security assessments are completed.
Practical tip: multinational companies that second staff on government projects should update their travel-approval matrix. Where team members hold official or diplomatic passports issued by India’s Ministry of External Affairs, the new exemption removes the need to budget time for paperwork, but travellers must still carry a note verbale and ensure their passport explicitly states its status. Indian missions will issue a formal circular in the coming week outlining entry-stamp procedures at Saudi airports.
