HYDERABAD, India, 13 November 2006 — Saudi Arabia plans to set up a consulate here, said the country’s ambassador to India, Saleh Al-Ghamdi.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry was holding talks with India’s External Affairs Ministry on the issue, the ambassador said at a reception hosted by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in honor of Saudi Arabia’s Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari here Thursday night. “The consulate will not only help the people of Andhra Pradesh in obtaining visas but will also strengthen relations between India and Saudi Arabia,” he said.
The ambassador favored more direct flights between the two countries.
Iran has a consulate in Hyderabad, considered one of the country’s IT hubs, and the US has announced plans to open one by 2008.
The Saudi higher education minister said he was impressed with the rapid strides made by Hyderabad in the IT sector. The 12-member Saudi delegation visited IT district Hitec City and the offices of Satyam Computers, one of the leading Indian IT companies, as well as the Indian School of Business.
The delegation also visited the Central University of Hyderabad and evinced interest in working together. According to Vice Chancellor Seyed E. Hasnain, the delegation wanted to collaborate in computer sciences, management, English and life sciences. He said the collaboration would involve the exchange of faculty and students.
A Memorandum of Scientific and Educational Cooperation Agreement was signed earlier in New Delhi by Al-Anqari and Indian Minister of Human Resource Development Arjun Singh. Under the five-year agreement, India and Saudi Arabia will encourage exchange of expertise and experiment in the scientific, technological and administrative fields in higher education institutions, universities and research centers.
