On this memorable occasion, I would like to extend my heartfelt compliments and best wishes to the management, journalists and staff members whose sincere effort, creative talent and professional commitment has produced this excellent publication over these years.

In the modern era of media boom, a newspaper plays an important and positive role in shaping and defining contemporary society by imparting awareness among its readers, informing them about the latest developments and equipping them to meet the formidable challenges of their times. The relevance of a newspaper is assessed by the quality and substance of its coverage of contemporary developments. I am happy to see that Arab News has been able to maintain the best standards of professional journalism and is responsive to the sentiments and ethos of its readers.

I have been personally monitoring Arab News for the last two decades and am impressed with the steady qualitative progress made by the newspaper. It started as a local newspaper and soon emerged as an important West Asian daily. It also has an attractive online edition. Its comprehensive coverage of local, regional and global events is widely followed by Asian and European expatriates in the Kingdom and in other GCC countries. I am confident that the newspaper will continue to scale new heights of excellence in the coming years.

- Talmiz Ahmad is the Indian ambassador to Saudi Arabia.