In the half century between King Saud’s visit to India in 1955 and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah’s current visit, the Indian presence in Saudi Arabia has been considerable. Some 1.6 million Indians, doing every kind of job from laborer to specialist physician, have earned the respect of the Saudi people through their diligence, industry, expertise and character. They have served as ambassadors for their country and created familiarity and understanding as well as an atmosphere of good will between the two nations.
There is hardly any sector of the Saudi economy in which Indians are not found. They are very well represented in the media, in health care, in business, in universities and in schools. Skilled Indian tradesmen provide the valuable and much-needed construction experience and practical knowledge for projects that Indian engineers help to design.
Indians are employed as technicians, accountants, health care professionals, grocers and drivers; their contributions to Saudi Arabia’s progress and economy are made steadily, day by day — and have been made for many decades. And Indians, we may note with pride, normally rank low when it comes to statistics on crime and criminals.
Their way has normally been to remain quietly in the background. Even when contacts between the governments of the two nations were few and far between, this work force was there to foster an atmosphere of good will between home and host. As important as the many buildings, factories and roadways that Indian workers have helped to erect in the Saudi landscape are the bridges of understanding they have built along the way.
Whenever there were differences of opinion — even friends have differences — and their country was attacked here in the media for various reasons, many of them took pens in hands and wrote letters to both Arabic and English newspapers. They sought to explain India’s secular credentials and how those credentials should be evaluated and understood. Even at the height of the carnage in Gujarat, when every Indian abroad hung his or her head in shame, there were Indians who told their hosts that Gujarat was an aberration and that India’s secular soul would assert itself and that in time, the stirrers of communal strife would be voted out. Indeed, that is exactly what happened during the last general elections, and then the Indians, especially those in Saudi Arabia, held their heads high.
Saudi Arabia is perhaps the only country outside India that publishes special editions of Indian language newspapers and magazines. The huge number of Keralites in the Kingdom run hundreds of groceries across the length and breadth of the Kingdom. They provide a valuable and convenient service and in turn make money for themselves and their sponsors.
In the last five years, Indian information technology skills have become much sought-after here in the Kingdom, and for many Saudi businesses having an Indian IT engineer is a sign of excellence and willingness to provide the best service. Computer shops across the Kingdom employ Indians in large numbers because of their world-renowned proficiency.
Many years ago, when the Americans came to Saudi Arabia to begin the development of the country’s oil industry, there was a subsequent shift to Western universities on the part of young Saudis seeking education. Before that time, however, many Saudis who recognized the value of education and could afford to do so sent their sons to India because of its well-established schools and colleges. Although that number has declined, Indian education still cures the sick, designs the buildings and creates the computer networks that drive the Saudi economy.
King Abdullah’s ongoing visit will forge stronger bonds on more formal levels. India’s rapidly developing economy is a major consumer of Saudi petroleum and its products. A solid trade relationship between the two nations is sure to benefit both.
The king’s visit should be seen as return of hospitality that the Kingdom has shown to many Indians over so many years. If the two governments need any guidance in establishing a stronger relationship, they need only emulate the relationship that already exists between their two peoples and look forward to a bright future of mutual respect and good will.
(Siraj Wahab is an editor at Arab News.)
