JEDDAH — India wants to further enhance its relations with Saudi Arabia, a former Indian minister said during his recent visit to the Kingdom.
“Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, who visited India in 2014 when he was the Crown Prince, is a good friend of India, and he has a good understanding of the country,” Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, who is the national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), told Saudi Gazette.
“Stronger ties are for the good of both countries,” said Shahnawaz, who was visiting the Kingdom as chairman of the Long-term Building Selection Committee for Indian pilgrims.
He said India has the largest population of Muslims in the world after Indonesia, and some 2.8 million Indians are working in the Kingdom. So it is natural to have strong ties with Saudi Arabia.
Shahnawaz said Prime Minister Modi sent a strong delegation led by Vice President Hamid Ansari to the Kingdom to offer condolences on the death of King Abdullah.
He said that the BJP-led government of Narendra Modi has completed one year.
“This one year will be written in golden letters in the history of India,” he said, listing the achievements of the Modi government.
“Our GDP has grown; our foreign reserves have grown. The Make in India campaign has been a tremendous success,” he said.
The initiative launched by Modi on Sept. 25, 2014, has received huge support from major economies of the world. Japan has promised private and public funding worth $35 billion over the next five years, China has promised investments worth $20 billion, US companies have offered investment plans worth $42 billion over the next five years.
Another achievement of the Modi government has been its inclusive growth under the slogan “sabka saath sabka vikas” (united we grow), said Shahnawaz.
“Muslims are safe in Modi's hands. The wrong perception which was created about him has been totally negated,” he said, adding that his party does not agree with some objectionable statements made by fringe elements.
Shahnawaz, who had been a three-time member of parliament from Bihar, believes that the BJP along with its allies will form the next government in the state after the assembly elections due in Sept-Oct.
He, however, said that he is not in the race for the chief ministership of the state.
“I will not fight assembly elections,” he said.
“This time the party will give eight to 10 tickets to Muslims for the Bihar assembly elections,” Shahnawaz said.
