The first visit by Saudi civil society delegation to India took place this year. Its program has included visits to cultural, academic, civil and media centers. Its delegates have learned a lot about how Indians perceive Saudis and why. The delegation’s mission is to rebuild Indo-Arab bridges of culture and trade. Such bridges have existed for many centuries but have been weakened in recent history. The Saudi Ministry of Culture & Information should be appreciated for having the vision to take such an initiative. I am proud to have joined this select group of Saudi women and men in academia, media and business.
One of our key visits was to the Indian Islamic Cultural Center. Its directors hope it will continue to develop into a place of learning, social and cultural exchanges, where religious, ethical, technical and scientific debates and seminars are held. The center was an initiative taken by Indian Muslim leaders 25 years ago. It found generous donors from several Muslim countries. I encourage every Saudi interested in serving Islam to be a member of IICC (www.iiccenter.org).
On the educational front, many Indian scholars from different universities we met think that our country has an obligation to improve the quality of higher education available to Muslims. One way to do that is to establish a world-class university in science, technology, management, and development. This university should give scholarships to the best-qualified Muslim students to help educate the future leaders in the subjects needed most by all Muslim countries. Ideally, such a university should be located close to Makkah or Madinah to attract Muslim scholars and scientists who want to serve Islam with their knowledge. I pray that Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah would adopt this project and make it a reality.
India is also a land of business opportunities with its huge population and expanding economy. A lot of Saudi businessmen have capitalized on these opportunities for many years. King Abdullah will soon witness the formation of several Saudi-Indian companies, one of which is Bushnak-Pallava Water Services Co. This Saudi-Indian joint venture plans to develop several desalination plants on the coast of southeastern India to serve industrial projects. Its first project is to build a private desalination plant inside the industrial zone of Pondicherry.
Bushnak Water Group is also working with other Indian investors to build other seawater desalination and industrial water recycling plants with a total investment exceeding SR300 million in the next few years. I welcome investors interested in water and power sector to share these opportunities. Many parts of India, like Saudi Arabia, have no alternative to seawater desalination to increase their water sources.
(Adil Bushnak heads the Jeddah-based Bushnak Group.)
