“Thanks to Allah, the damage was minor,” said Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Aqueel, deputy assistant minister of culture and information for domestic information and the fair’s director general.

“Fortunately, this sudden incident did not spoil the joy of having a successful fair this year. The event attracted around 3 million visitors and over 350 exhibitors from over 30 countries,” he added.

The fair was seething with visitors on the final day despite the dusty weather which was followed by heavy rain and hailstones. The Indian pavilion was a particularly busy area. The director of the pavilion, Fadl Al-Rahman, said over 80,000 people visited the pavilion over the course of the entire event.

Arab News noticed a large number of Saudis at the Indian pavilion toward the end of the event. When some of them were asked about this, they responded saying they had visited the pavilion to buy books, but were told that the books were only for display and that they might be distributed for free at the end of the event.

Indian Ambassador to the Kingdom Talmiz Ahmad, who was present at the pavilion, expressed great satisfaction at the strong interest shown in the pavilion, especially by Saudis. “We were happy and lucky that we could serve them by making available to them many books on India. Some of them were translated, and some were compiled by Indians who are scholars of Arabic and Islamic studies,” he said.

“Because of this unprecedented interest in India by Saudis, we will work next year to have double the space that we had this year... though India will not be the honorary guest country,” he added.