On the occasion of the 58th anniversary of India’s independence, it gives me great pleasure to extend my warm greetings and best wishes to all Indians in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

India and the Kingdom are bound together by a multi-faceted relationship which is both historical and warm. The defining characteristic of our bilateral ties is the growing people-to-people interaction. Economic and commercial cooperation between our two countries is progressing satisfactorily. We face common challenges and I am pleased to note that we share a common resolve to meet those challenges.

We join our Saudi brethren and the Saudi leadership in mourning the passing away of the Custodian of the Holy Mosques King Fahd on Aug. 1. He was a great leader and a visionary under whose leadership the Kingdom was transformed into a modern state and an influential regional and global power. The leadership of India expressed their sincere condolences on this sad occasion. We also congratulate the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah on his accession to the throne and Prince Sultan on his appointment as crown prince.

Our ties with the Kingdom have been traditionally mutually beneficial. We seek now to build on that tradition while forging a new partnership. This new partnership is focused on greater business to business interaction, cooperation in energy and in new technologies. There have also been high-level interactions at the political level with the visits this year of Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ibrahim Ali Al-Naimi to India and of Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Mani Shankar Aiyar and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram to the Kingdom.

Terrorism has changed from being a vehicle of intra-state violence to a trans-national phenomenon. India believes that the fight against terrorism has to be long term, sustained and comprehensive. As a long standing victim of terrorism, India has repeatedly drawn attention to the fact that terrorism cannot be compartmentalized and that there can be no justification for terrorism on any grounds, including ideological, religious, racial, ethnic or any other. We see the Kingdom as an important partner in combating global terrorism and would like to commend the efforts of King Abdullah for the successful counter-terrorism international conference in February 2005.

India is undergoing a rapid and increasingly all-encompassing process of transformation. A billion-strong society developing at our current pace in a democratic framework has no historical precedent. We are one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Over the last three years, the Indian economy has grown at an average annual rate of 6.5 percent. We expect this to go up to 7.5 percent in the next two years, and are targeting 8 percent thereafter. Our focus remains on instituting policies of high growth aimed at encouraging investment flows and expanding trade.

I thank you, my fellow citizens; for all that you have done and are doing, individually and together, for India. Your support and your talents are necessary for our continued progress. Through your commitment and efforts, India and the Indo-Saudi partnership will grow together.

Jai Hind

M.O.H. Farook

Ambassador of India