India-Saudi Arabia relations will continue to blossom: Faisal Bin Hassan Trad

[TATA]

India-Saudi Arabia relations will continue to blossom: Faisal Bin Hassan Trad

New Delhi, Sep 24 (IANS) Saudi Arabia's envoy to India Faisal Bin Hassan Trad hopes that the bilateral relations between the two nations 'will continue to blossom' with high-level exchange of visits in near future.

Speaking to IANS on the sidelines of the Saudi National Day celebrations here Thursday evening, he said more Indian Muslims will be allowed to perform Haj pilgrimage this year than the last.

'The excellent bilateral relations between India and Saudi Arabia will continue to blossom. There will be an exchange of very high level delegations between the two countries in the near future,' Trad said.

The Saudi embassy in New Delhi had arranged a get-together to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Saudi Arabia's National Day. Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur was a special guest at the reception at the Taj Palace hotel. Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and MoS Railways E. Ahamed also attended the event.

Trad commended the 'longstanding cordial ties' between the two countries which, he said, are 'based on the brotherhood, understanding and mutual respect among leaders and people'.

The envoy said the India-Saudi relations had a long history that goes back to early times. 'People to people contact between the Indians and Arabs is very old. For centuries they have been in contact for trade, culture and other exchanges,' he said.

He said that there had been a 'remarkable' upswing in the volume of trade between the two countries.

Bilateral trade has grown to $28 billion as Saudi Arabia is one of the major suppliers of crude oil to India.

On the November Haj pilgrimage to Makkah and Medina, the two holy cities in Saudi, Trad said that his country would give visas to as many Indian Muslims as possible.

'Whatever our Indian friends come to us and say this is our number (of Haj pilgrims), they will get it. In fact, this year there was an increase. It is 170,000. So it is indeed an increase than last year,' he said.

Saudi Arabia's National Day dates back to 1932 when the kingdom's founder, the late King Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman Al-Saud united the country ending a long-time dispute among various tribes and entities.

The ceremony began with the national anthems of the two countries being played out.

Trad, clad in a thawb - an ankle length gown and a keffiyeh - a large checkered square scarf held over head by a cord coil, later met the dignitaries and offered them dates before a lavish dinner.

Heads of various foreign missions in New Delhi were also present.

India-Saudi relations will continue to blossom: Envoy

 

[Tuahaa]

I don't get why arabs lick a bit too much butt sometimes... seriously. On numerous occasions, Pakistani pilots fight on their sides for the sake of Islam (and we did the right thing- may God reward us) but Saudi Arabia doesn't give no half damn to Kashmir.

This is why non-arab Muslims are more arab nowadays.

 

[FreekiN]

^We still got Iran and Syria and Bahrain and I believe Kuwait.

They banned all pro-India propaganda on the Kashmir issue.

 

[nForce]

I don't get why arabs lick a bit too much butt sometimes... seriously. On numerous occasions, Pakistani pilots fight on their sides for the sake of Islam (and we did the right thing- may God reward us) but Saudi Arabia doesn't give no half damn to Kashmir.

This is why non-arab Muslims are more arab nowadays.

How come a friendly trade relation amounts to licking butt???

Pakistani pilots fought for Egypt and Syria against the Israelis,and the contribution was more like a token,way too small to make any difference.It is a strategic blunder in my opinion.Way too small a contribution to make any significance but way too big a step to change the course of International diplomacy.

But,the country in concern in this topic is Saudi Arabia,not Egypt or Syria.

 

[SivHp]

I don't get why arabs lick a bit too much butt sometimes... seriously. On numerous occasions, Pakistani pilots fight on their sides for the sake of Islam (and we did the right thing- may God reward us) but Saudi Arabia doesn't give no half damn to Kashmir.

This is why non-arab Muslims are more arab nowadays.

Indo-Saudi relations have nothing to do w/ kashmir..as u people would like to believe..ita all abt $$$

 

[Ganga]

I don't get why arabs lick a bit too much butt sometimes... seriously. On numerous occasions, Pakistani pilots fight on their sides for the sake of Islam (and we did the right thing- may God reward us) but Saudi Arabia doesn't give no half damn to Kashmir.

This is why non-arab Muslims are more arab nowadays.

Dude Indians have worked day and night to convert Arab nations from deserts to what they are today.Saudi Arabia is not licking our butt as you put it but rather they are grateful to us.When MMS visited Saudi you should have seen how warmly he was received.

 

[nForce]

^We still got Iran and Syria and Bahrain and I believe Kuwait.

They banned all pro-India propaganda on the Kashmir issue.

Nothing really matters as long as these countries don't go anti Indian.

All the countries that you have mentioned have excellent trade relations with India in such a high volume that it value cannot be ignored.

Iran:

Iran-India direct trade stands at US $13 billion,while indirect trade through a third country stands at around US $ 30 billion.Iran has asked Indian exporters to step up direct bilateral trade instead of routing exports through the United Arab Emirates. Iran has also called for increased investments from this country.

Syria:

one of the recent developments:Shri Anand Sharma, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Mrs. Lamia Marai Aasi, Minister for Economy & Trade of the Syrian Arab Republic, co-chaired the Second Session of the India-Syria Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) in Damascus on 10 June 2010. During the session, Shri Sharma announced that India and Syria have agreed to make concerted efforts to raise the bilateral trade to a level commensurate with the potential of the two countries. Shri Anand Sharma was accompanied by a business delegation from Confederation of India Industry (CII) including captains of industry and major companies.

Bahrain:

The trade volume between the two countries already stand at around US $ 2 billion.Not too long ago,in February this year,the Indian External Affairs Minister S.M.Krishna met with his Bahraini counterpart Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohamed Al Khalifa,and both the countries vowed to increase the trade volume even more.

Kuwait:

The total trade volume stands at US $ 6.38 billion,which is heavily in favour of Kuwait as India is one of the major oil importer.The non oil based trade volume is somewhere around US $ 1.2 billion.

 

[kingdurgaking]

I don't get why arabs lick a bit too much butt sometimes... seriously. On numerous occasions, Pakistani pilots fight on their sides for the sake of Islam (and we did the right thing- may God reward us) but Saudi Arabia doesn't give no half damn to Kashmir.

This is why non-arab Muslims are more arab nowadays.

Sirjeee ... PAF pilots contribution is only not enough.. Pakistan should contribute a lot apart from defence... Defence is not the only solution in the world .. there are lot of areas where India has excel for Saudi (e.g.) modern education( very important for modern world), space, trade etc... naturally both have interest for each other... FYI saudi is not that close to india it is said relation will blossom thats all... we are dependent on them for energy and foreign exchange.. they have there own dependency on us...

If GoP comes something like this innovative/useful for them then for sure the relation ship will be taken to next step.. right now your relationship with saudi is not in bad books..

 

[kingdurgaking]

^We still got Iran and Syria and Bahrain and I believe Kuwait.

They banned all pro-India propaganda on the Kashmir issue.

I dont understand if Middle countries are promoting anti-india on kashmir issue what will they again??.. Secondly what bad can they bring to India??... They cant do anything apart from talking... they cant separate JK from india for sure.... Pakistan need US-Russia-China-EU on your side to threaten India .... Only then there is a chance for discussion.. these Middle east people cant do anything to India...

Infact all these dance by this ME countries will be only until an alternative cheap energy is found.. If found US will show bye bye to them and they will be under dark black sun like they where before the discovery of Oil....

 

[Tuahaa]

Sirjeee ... PAF pilots contribution is only not enough.. Pakistan should contribute a lot apart from defence... Defence is not the only solution in the world .. there are lot of areas where India has excel for Saudi (e.g.) modern education( very important for modern world), space, trade etc... naturally both have interest for each other... FYI saudi is not that close to india it is said relation will blossom thats all... we are dependent on them for energy and foreign exchange.. they have there own dependency on us...

If GoP comes something like this innovative/useful for them then for sure the relation ship will be taken to next step.. right now your relationship with saudi is not in bad books..

Yes but Pakistan helped U.A.E a lot in its formative years. We kicked started their airlines.

What I am a bit annoyed at is while our soldiers would throw their lives for fighting Israel, they can't give us a bit of political support. Our trade is cut off with Israel only because of the Israel-Palestine issue; I am never in favor of Israel, but I think its time they return the favor.

Sure, Saudi Arabia has showered us with money and were against the splitting of East/West Pakistan- we have our exchange with the arab world as much as the Indians do. I am not talking about that. I am talking about actual ground support. Living in UAE, I can see that most arbis (aside from saudis, omanis, etc) don't have respect for Pakistan...

 

[Tuahaa]

Infact all these dance by this ME countries will be only until an alternative cheap energy is found.. If found US will show bye bye to them and they will be under dark black sun like they where before the discovery of Oil....

Wow man... as much as I don't like the state of arbis now, you must know that they've given more than the fair share of contributions to the world. Including a lot of scientific discoveries.

Yes, I know, I'm standing up for them. It's not wrong. I don't even know why we get defensive over just Arabs, not Muslims overall. But out of my class, it's only the Iranis say something to the Indian guy who starts bashing Pakistan.

 

[pankaj agrawal]

@tuahaa.. buddy, we are talking about india and saudi relationship, especially from economic point of view. why are you bringing pakistan and other nations, as the saudis are betraying you.

 

[kingdurgaking]

Yes but Pakistan helped U.A.E a lot in its formative years. We kicked started their airlines.

What I am a bit annoyed at is while our soldiers would throw their lives for fighting Israel, they can't give us a bit of political support. Our trade is cut off with Israel only because of the Israel-Palestine issue; I am never in favor of Israel, but I think its time they return the favor.

Sure, Saudi Arabia has showered us with money and were against the splitting of East/West Pakistan- we have our exchange with the arab world as much as the Indians do. I am not talking about that. I am talking about actual ground support. Living in UAE, I can see that most arbis (aside from saudis, omanis, etc) don't have respect for Pakistan...

Thats what i said sirjee... Asians are katchras for them.. we are labours because we dont have what they want... but see the status of goras in UAE or middle east... they have more respect infact they dance to there tunes... why? .. they export lot of technologies which ME want.. they import what they have...any new product launched it comes to there door steps immediately... but PAF.. poor people.. they come to picture only if there is a panic... It is not your fault but GoP fault... GoP is interested only in defence activities ... (correct me if i am wrong) any bilateral relation ship from GoP side starts only with defence.. that is only the main agenda... has GoP had any agenda with US or any developed country regarding space, energy,education,technology,culture,Finance during its honey moon period? No all i have read is only defence procurement, defence products, defence training, defence exercise etc..

GoP has done body shopping on defence ... especially PAF... which is a successful business... and PAF are only flying and training but decision is done by Goras... what else you can expect for ME?

 

[nForce]

Yes but Pakistan helped U.A.E a lot in its formative years. We kicked started their airlines.

What I am a bit annoyed at is while our soldiers would throw their lives for fighting Israel, they can't give us a bit of political support. Our trade is cut off with Israel only because of the Israel-Palestine issue; I am never in favor of Israel, but I think its time they return the favor.

Sure, Saudi Arabia has showered us with money and were against the splitting of East/West Pakistan- we have our exchange with the arab world as much as the Indians do. I am not talking about that. I am talking about actual ground support. Living in UAE, I can see that most arbis (aside from saudis, omanis, etc) don't have respect for Pakistan...

I can understand your annoyance,which is justified indeed.But then,you are making a mistake here.

Firstly,Pakistan helped Egypt and Syria with 16 fighter pilots against Israel,and not actually the other Arabian countries which did not wish to get directly involved.Not many people know about it,and much less people talk about it.The result is indifference.Even the gesture ,was just a token gesture,not much to do with what was actually needed.It was more like a formality.it might even have a negative impact as a whole.The Egyptian and Syrian military officials may feel enraged and think that Pakistan could have done much more if it really wanted to get involved,rather than sending just 16 fighter pilots and that too without a plane to fly.

Secondly,all these military efforts at some point of time long past,at the backdrop of fast changing economic and socio-political scenario,doesnt really count much when it comes to trade relations,at the present times.Trade is based on making profits.If the companies of these countries can make better profits trading with India,then they will just do it.

Thirdly,the issue is with social stigma.Many Pakistanis go to middle east to work as labourers,atleast majority of the Pakistanis working in the middle east are mainly labourers or work basically in lower paid jobs.Now,no matter how much we talk about morality and ethics,at the end of the day,money speaks.Henceforth,an American spending his holidays in Dubai is more respected than a Pakistani construction worker in Dubai.Nobody actually thinks of those Pakistani fighter pilots who once fought for the Arabs.It is just the way the society works.The more money,you have,the more respectable you are.And not everybody is a Karl Marx or a Mahatma Gandhi.

 

[Tuahaa]

I can understand your annoyance,which is justified indeed.But then,you are making a mistake here.

Firstly,Pakistan helped Egypt and Syria with 16 fighter pilots against Israel,and not actually the other Arabian countries which did not wish to get directly involved.Not many people know about it,and much less people talk about it.The result is indifference.Even the gesture ,was just a token gesture,not much to do with what was actually needed.It was more like a formality.it might even have a negative impact as a whole.The Egyptian and Syrian military officials may feel enraged and think that Pakistan could have done much more if it really wanted to get involved,rather than sending just 16 fighter pilots and that too without a plane to fly.

They understood it was not our war, but we helped them despite being a 3rd world country. The other countries were too scared/couldn't care less.

Secondly,all these military efforts at some point of time long past,at the backdrop of fast changing economic and socio-political scenario,doesnt really count much when it comes to trade relations,at the present times.Trade is based on making profits.If the companies of these countries can make better profits trading with India,then they will just do it.

Of course. I never said there was anything wrong with trading with India.

Thirdly,the issue is with social stigma.Many Pakistanis go to middle east to work as labourers,atleast majority of the Pakistanis working in the middle east are mainly labourers or work basically in lower paid jobs.Now,no matter how much we talk about morality and ethics,at the end of the day,money speaks.Henceforth,an American spending his holidays in Dubai is more respected than a Pakistani construction worker in Dubai.Nobody actually thinks of those Pakistani fighter pilots who once fought for the Arabs.It is just the way the society works.The more money,you have,the more respectable you are.And not everybody is a Karl Marx or a Mahatma Gandhi.

Well, thanks for knocking some sense into me (I never thought about it this way)...

I really don't understand Arabs. I went to Oman, and they're the nicest and humblest people you're met- you want to stay there forever because of it. I went to Australia and met up with a Muslim community. They're (the arabs) are delighted to be with you. When you go to UAE, as a Pakistani you have no respect, all the goray expats can call you a terrorist and only the Iranis stick up for you.

I go to quite an expensive school and naturally it only has kids from western countries and the rest are from Iran or are Arabs. I have great friends there- arabs are amongst them... to think of it, as far as Pakistan bashing goes, only Indians and the expats participate (I'm the only Pakistani in my whole grade- so defending my country through words is tough) but we, as Pakistanis, defend arabs both on the political and personal level... I just felt it was time they did the same.