The session was also attended by several senior Indian and Saudi officials, including Yousuf Al-Saadoun, undersecretary at the Saudi Foreign Ministry for economic and cultural affairs and head of the Saudi youth delegation, and Saudi Ambassador to India Saud bin Mohammed Al-Saty.

The 40-member delegation arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday on the last leg of a 10-day tour, which also took them to India’s IT hubs of Bangalore and Hyderabad.

In his speech, Ahamed highlighted the excellent relations between India and Saudi Arabia in various fields that dates back to centuries.

Addressing the gathering, Al-Saadoun conveyed the greetings of Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal to the government and people of India. On behalf of the Saudi delegation, he thanked the Indian government and people for the heartiest welcome accorded to the delegation during its visit to various parts of the country.

“The delegation’s visit was in the framework of the great initiative taken by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to achieve world peace through promoting dialogue among followers of various religions and cultures. The visit aims at enabling Saudi youths to convey a message of peace and love to all peace-loving people of the world,” he said while noting that the visit helped the youth delegation to make an attempt to have a deep understanding of India and its diverse culture.

Al-Saadoun also recalled the deep-rooted relations between the two friendly countries. He called the young delegates attending the forum as future decision makers. “When we strive to further strengthen our bilateral relations, we have to give the youth an opportunity for holding dialogue and making contributions to crystallize bilateral and international cooperation programs,” he said.

After the speeches, both youth delegations issued a joint message in which they commended leaders of India and Saudi Arabia, besides presenting their visions and proposals aimed at bolstering bilateral relations with a special focus on boosting cooperation in the fields of communications and IT and exchange of knowledge and expertise on youth-related issues.

Both sides have also proposed joint solutions in science, medicine and technology fields, especially making available of medical services to remote regions with the help of advanced technology and e-health services.

In a message to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon they outlined their hopes, aspirations and recommendations to promote youth participation as well as their call for world peace. The delegation also proposed the establishment of an e-trade portal to make available basic needs of life  — food, medicines and clothing for the needy people across the world.

During the 10-day tour, the Saudi delegation, comprised of students, media persons and youth from different walks of life, have had interactions with prominent Indian figures, including former President and world-renowned nuclear scientist A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, as well as ministers, senior officials and executives especially in the fields of communications and IT.

The forum was the fourth in a series, three of which were conducted earlier in China, Brazil and Germany.