Riyadh: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs organized at its headquarters in Riyadh the closing event of Saudi-Indian Youth Forum on Thursday.
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Nizar Madani, Undersecretary for Economic and Cultural Affairs at the ministry Yusuf Al-Saadoun, head the Saudi delegation to the forum, and Indian Ambassador to the Kingdom Hamid Ali Rao attended the ceremony. It wound up this year's series of forums held in three premier Indian cities in March. Members of the 26-member Saudi youth delegation to the fora also attended the event.
The forum were in held on March 23-31 in the light of the historic initiative taken by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to achieve world peace through promoting dialogue among followers of various religions and cultures. The theme of this year's forum -- which was the fourth in a series, three of which were conducted earlier in China, Brazil and Germany -- was communications and information technology and taking advantage of it in economic and social welfare areas.
Madani highlighted the significance of holding youth forums with the aim of promoting the message of peace, brotherhood and dialogue among the younger generation in the Kingdom and other countries in the world as well.
Al-Saadoun appreciated the active participation and fruitful interaction of young Saudi men and women with their Indian counterparts. He lauded the delegation members for their excellent performance and top level of standard while representing the Kingdom in the largest democracy in the world. Al-Saadoun thanked all those who contributed to making the forum a resounding success.
A video show highlighted the forum's activities as well as the impressions of the Saudi delegates during their visit to the IT hubs of Hyderabad and Bangalore as well as New Delhi. On behalf of the delegates, Muhannid Dawood presented a comprehensive report about the activities of the forums held earlier in response to the interfaith initiative of King Abdullah. The report also contained extensive coverage of the delegation's visit to India, its meeting with Indian leaders and IT experts, and tour of leading institutes in the IT, science and medical fields.
Dawood also drew attention to the joint message issued by the youth delegations in which they commended leaders of India and Saudi Arabia, besides presenting their visions and proposals aimed at bolstering bilateral relations with a special focus on boosting cooperation in the fields of communications and IT and exchange of knowledge and expertise on youth-related issues. The youth forum had also issued a second message addressed to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in which they outlined their hopes, aspirations and recommendations to promote youth contributions as well as their call for achieving world peace.
Mazen Darab, another delegate, spoke about the Saudi e-trade portal initiative called Kawthar.com to make available basic needs for needy people across the world. Maya Al-Dosari, another delegate, briefed the delegates on a telemedicine initiative.
The Saudi delegation, consisting of students, media persons and youths from different walks of life, interacted with prominent Indian figures, including former President and world-renowned nuclear scientist A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, as well as ministers, senior officials and executives especially in the fields of communication and IT. The team, which began its tour on March 22, visited three cities as part of promoting interactions in the field of science and technology.
© Arab News 2012
