RIYADH, 31 May 2006 — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah called yesterday for the expansion of educational ties with India and hoped that more Saudi students would be pursuing higher studies in that country. The king said this during a meeting with an Indian delegation led by Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh.
Following the meeting, Indian Ambassador M.O.H. Farook told Arab News that the king expressed his appreciation of the Indian community’s contribution to the Saudi economy. He said the idea of setting up an IIT Center of Excellence in the Kingdom would be discussed in a meeting scheduled today between Singh and officials from the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
After a meeting with Minister of Higher Education Khaled Al-Anqari it was announced that the Kingdom would increase the number of scholarships for Saudi students to study in the subcontinent from 100 to 500 a year. Al-Anqari told Arab News that Saudi students would pursue higher education in the fields of medicine, engineering, basic sciences and information technology in India.
There will also be an academic exchange program involving professors from both countries as well as Saudi students at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Singh renewed his country’s offer of seats to Saudi students in postgraduate and doctoral programs at Indian technical institutions.
The Indian delegation also addressed the Kingdom’s efforts to seek India’s expertise in setting up ICT (information and communications technology) centers of excellence in existing Saudi universities and those proposed within the framework of the Kingdom’s Eighth Five-Year Plan.
Highly qualified researchers and academics from various Saudi universities would staff these centers.
The Indian minister suggested to Al-Anqari that they avail the services of Educational Consultants India Ltd. (EDCIL) for placement of Saudi students in Indian higher educational institutions. He sought permission from the Ministry of Higher Education for EDCIL to visit the Kingdom and organize exhibitions in major Saudi cities, where Indian universities could showcase their capabilities in science and technology.
Singh said that the issue of equivalence of Indian and Saudi degrees must be sorted out first.
Singh said they had “a very fruitful discussion with the Saudi minister to carry forward the recommendations of the Delhi Declaration signed on Jan. 26 by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.”
He said that centers of excellence would be established at the university level to promote scientific research and higher studies with India’s cooperation.
Later, the Indian delegation visited King Saud University, the Kingdom’s largest, where they met with Abdullah Al-Faisal, the university’s rector, and explored the possibility of future cooperation between the university and educational institutions in India.
The KSU rector informed the visiting delegation that several Indians are studying in various universities in the Kingdom and pointed out that the university awards grants and scholarships to Indians studying the Arabic language.
Later in the evening Mohamed Adel, CEO of Geant hypermarket, hosted a community dinner in honor of the visiting delegation.
