By Hassan Cheruppa

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Dr. Ausaf Sayeed unveiled plans to organize a series of events and activities to mark the historic occasion of the 75th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties between India and Saudi Arabia, saying that this coincides with the celebration of 75th anniversary of India’s Independence.

“We plan to hold economic, cultural, literary and media level events to mark the great occasion. The centuries-old historic relations between the two countries reached new heights of strategic partnership and there are plenty of opportunities to further enhance bilateral cooperation and collaboration in vital sectors in the post pandemic period too,” he said.

The ambassador made the remarks during an audience with Jameel Altheyabi, editor in chief of Okaz and supervisor general of Saudi Gazette, at the headquarters of Okaz Organization for Press and Publication, here on Tuesday.

Dr. Sayeed was accompanied by Consul General of India Mohammed Shahid Alam, Second Secretary (Press, Information, Culture & Education) at the Embassy Asim Anwar, Indian Consul of Commerce & Press, Information & Culture Hamna Mariyam and other officials during the visit.

Those who received the ambassador included Abdullah Al-Hassoun, director general of Okaz Organization for Press and Publication, Faisal Alkhammash, deputy editor in chief of Okaz, Khaled Saem Al-Dahr, director of Okaz website, Anas Alyusuf, executive editor of Saudi Gazette, L. Ramnarayan Iyer, managing editor of Saudi Gazette, and other officials and staffers of Okaz and Saudi Gazette.

In his speech, the ambassador thanked the leadership and people of Saudi Arabia for their great support to India and Indian nationals, the largest expatriate segment in the Kingdom, especially in tackling the unprecedented pandemic situation.

“Saudi Arabia’s supply of oxygen cylinders had been instrumental in helping the country to cope with the second wave of the pandemic successfully within a short period of time. I, would like to add, Indian doctors and paramedical staff have contributed significantly in the Kingdom’s successful fight to curb the pandemic in a remarkable way,” he said.

Dr. Sayeed noted that the landmark visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Saudi Arabia in April 2016 and historic visit of Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman to India in Feb. 2019 have contributed immensely in elevating the status of the bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership. “We hope that a summit level meeting between the top leaders of the two countries would be held this year. India values highly the preeminent role of Saudi Arabia as the leader of the Islamic Ummah.”

The envoy looked forward to further enhancing collaboration in wide ranging areas, including pharmaceuticals, defense, oil, IT and education. “We are keen to tap fully the tremendous opportunities in diverse fields in both the countries, especially in education and pharmaceutical fields,” he said while noting India’s advancement toward becoming the world’s vaccine capital.

He also indicated that efforts are being made to collaborate in education with the premier Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) School opening up a branch of higher learning to benefit Saudi students. The IITs are among the best institutes in the world with many of the global CEOs of top companies being IITians. He added that IIT Delhi is keep to set up a branch in the Kingdom, which is seeing revitalization in education.

On his part, Altheyabi hailed the excellent relations between India and Saudi Arabia, saying that potentials are there to further enhance the ties as well as to explore new avenues of investment opportunities in diverse fields in both the countries. Accompanied by Altheyabi and Hasoun, Dr. Sayeed toured various facilities and offices of Okaz Organization and expressed his excitement over the rare collection of archives that shed light to the strong bonds of ties between India and Saudi Arabia over several decades.