Saudi Arabia, India sign bilateral Haj agreement

JEDDAH – Saudi Arabia and India signed on Thursday the bilateral agreement for the Haj of 2019. Minister of Haj and Umrah Muhammad Saleh Benten and India’s Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi inked the agreement at a ceremony held at the minister’s office in Jeddah.

Prior to signing of the agreement, an official meeting was held between the senior Saudi Haj Ministry officials, led by Minister Benten and the high-level Indian delegation, headed by Naqvi. The talks figured several significant aspects pertaining to the forthcoming Haj of 2019.

On his part, Naqvi conveyed sincere appreciation of the people and government of India to the people and government of Saudi Arabia for the excellent Haj arrangements made for the Indian pilgrims during the Haj of 2018 and assured the Saudi Minister all support and cooperation to ensure a smooth and successful Haj of 2019.

It was highlighted in the talks that India is amongst the countries which has successfully implemented the online e-path system of the Ministry of Haj and Umrah. Naqvi has assured his Saudi counterpart India’s full support and cooperation for continued success of e-path in the forthcoming Haj as well as any other information and communications technology initiatives of the ministry.

During the talks, Naqvi was accompanied by Ahmad Javed, ambassador of India; Choudhary Mehboob Ali Kaiser, member of parliament and chairman of the Haj Committee of India; Jan-e-Alam, joint secretary, Ministry of Minority Affairs; S.K. Mishra, joint secretary of Ministry of Civil Aviation; Md. Noor Rahman Sheikh, consul general of India; Dr. Maqsood Ahmed Khan, CEO of Haj Committee of India; Nijamuddin, director of Ministry of Minority Affairs; Sunil Gautam, PS to Minister Naqvi; Mohd. Shahid Alam, deputy consul general and consul of Haj; and Ibrahim Kholsawala, representative of Private Tour Operators.