The opening took place in the presence of Indian film star Sarat Kumar and Abdul Rahman Al-Tuwaijiri, former minister of electricity.

Ahmad said India has been concentrating on the US and European markets for well over 15 years and is now focusing on the Gulf region. He noted that bilateral relations between the Kingdom and India have been growing steadily during recent years.

“Besides other sectors, the tourism and information technology sectors are highly promising in the two countries,” he said, adding that a large number of people including members of the royal family are visiting India.

“Saudis have discovered new destinations in various parts of India and more than 170,000 pilgrims come for Haj every year,” he said, adding that there are some two million Indian workers in the Kingdom.

India is the Kingdom’s fifth largest trading partner, whereas the Kingdom occupies ninth position in India’s exports. Two-way trade stands at $15.97 billion, which includes the Kingdom’s exports that are estimated at $11 billion.

Recently, the two countries signed an agreement to allow their national airline carriers to increase operations between both countries and fly on more routes. Saudi and Indian carriers can now ferry up to 20,000 passengers per week between the two destinations, up from the 8,500 permitted earlier. The agreement also permits Saudi airlines to add three more Indian cities to their routes, while Indian carriers can now fly to Madinah, in addition to Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. India and South Arabia have also eliminated all restrictions on cargo services.

Kumar said that although this is his maiden visit to the Kingdom, he feels at home since there is a large concentration of Indians in the Kingdom. During his brief stay in Riyadh, the actor also addressed students at Al-Huda International School and attended a function organized by the Riyadh Tamil Sangam.