A top Indian official praised the growing ties between Saudi Arabia and his country during his visit here for the G20 parliament speakers conference. K. Rahman Khan, deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian Parliament, has said India maintains excellent relations with all countries in the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia, a country that has been playing an increasingly important role in world economy due to its status in the global energy market, the sheer size of its economy and stability. Rahman Khan thanked the Speaker of Shoura Council Dr. Abdullah Bin Mohammad Aal Al-Sheikh for hosting the conference and for the hospitality extended to the Indian delegation. Asked about the need to promote Islamic banking in India, he said Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has expressed its keenness to cooperate with India in the fields of Islamic banking and development of Waqf properties in India. There are about 400,000 hectares of Waqf (Endowments) land in India and the IDB is willing to develop some of them, he said.
