NEW DELHI – Indian Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Sunday,departed for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for a four-day visit.

Naravane will be India’s first army chief to visit Saudi Arabia. He willmeet his Saudi counterpart in Riyadh, and address the Saudi NationalDefence College before heading to Abu Dhabi.

General Naravane is scheduled to hold talks with civil-military leadershipin both of the countries.

Earlier in November, India and UAE agreed to explore ways to facilitateinvestments to strengthen economic ties between the two nations.

India has been fuming over a motion by the Islamic CooperationOrganisation, asking the Indian government to end the semi-autonomousstatus of the Kashmir region.