By Mohammed Saifuddin

RIYADH — Indian Ambassador Ahmed Javed has attributed the success of his tenure to the active community volunteers who were so instrumental that without their help and support the Indian mission would not have succeeded in its operations at various fronts.

Ahmed made this observation at a farewell arranged by Indian community in his honor at the International Indian School Riyadh. After completing his tenure he will shortly return back to India.

He said, during his tenure the Indian mission came across several challenging situations but came out with flying colors in all. He specifically mentioned about community outreach program under which he himself visited remote villages of the Kingdom to meet the Indian community and Saudi officials.

He was delighted with the fact that he found the Indian volunteers and social workers actively working and helping Indian nationals in the remotest areas. “Indian Embassy would not have achieved success in its endeavors without overwhelming support and help of these volunteers. He thanked the volunteers for their selfless services, he said and added, “In the vast country like Saudi Arabia their services helped embassy in extending its services to the vast Indian community. The services of the embassy have been enhanced manifold and we got closer to our community and all this was possible only with the help of community volunteers.”

Highlighting the improvement in services of Indian mission, he said any Indian in trouble approaching us either by phone or social media got a quick and prompt response. He praised and the thanked Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj for guiding the Indian Embassy in improving the services to the current level.

“Every Indian living in Saudi Arabia is an Indian Ambassador as they have built up a very good image of India here. Officials, governors, ministers, princes, royals and even the King have all praises for the Indians and their contributions for the growth and development of the Kingdom,” said the outgoing ambassador. They never missed an opportunity to mention how important and valuable the contributions of Indians have been in this country and their society.

He thanked and appreciated all the Indian expatriates in Saudi Arabia as because of them only India has got an extremely good image in this land. Javed said he is one of the luckiest ambassadors as the Indo-Saudi bilateral relations improved a lot in his tenure. Because of the improved services the Indians in Saudi Arabia are now feeling that there is someone to take care of them.

Ambassador feels himself as one of the luckiest ambassadors as bilateral relations between India and the Kingdom touched new heights during his tenure. Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Saudi Arabia, visit of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman to India, last year’s Janadriya where India was the guest of honor and legalizing yoga in Saudi Arabia were major milestones.

On behalf of the first Indian lady Shabnam Javed, he expressed gratitude to various women’s groups who felicitated her on this occasion. The felicitation event coincided with the women’s day. Accordingly representatives of various female groups felicitated Mrs. Shabnam. Head Mistress IISR Mrs. Maimoona Abbas invited the ladies groups to felicitate the first Indian lady for her support and encouragement to their groups.

Representatives of various social and cultural organizations praised Indian Ambassador for the successful tenure. Zaigham Khan, Shihab Kottukad, Niyaz Ahmed, Ahmed Imthias, Mohammed Mubeen, Misbahul Arifeen, Mohammed Quaiser, Dr. Sanoj, Wasi Haider Razvi, Aftab Nizami, Muneeb Pazhur, Dr. Mohammed Ashraf Ali, Dr. Anwer Khursheed, Abdulrahman Parvez, Nemathullah, Abdul Jabbar, Dilshad Ahmed spoke on this occasion. All of them praised the remarkable services of Ahmed Javed. They thanked ambassador for appreciating and recognizing the services of community volunteers and social workers.

Presidents, office bearers and representatives of various social and cultural organizations presented mementos, shawls, bouquets and gifts to Javed and Mrs. Shabnam Javed.

Eng. Suhail Ahmed and Zaigham Khan conducted the proceedings. Osman Tirmizi recited the verses of holy Qur’an. Presentation on successful diplomacy of Javed depicting various milestones achieved during his tenure was presented by IISR.