The celebration of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ in Saudi Arabia and entire Arab world seems to be the manifestation and demonstration of the strong ties of Indo-Arab relations that developed steadily but strongly over the period
Centuries old diverse and multi-faceted Indo-Saudi relationship is set to commemorate 75 years of their diplomatic relations on the event of “The Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”, which is described by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an elixir of Independence.
This is a festival of awakening of the nation and global peace and development. The celebration is not confined to the political boundaries of India, its shrillness is resonating in Arab world, particularly in Saudi Arabia. Though Indo-Saudi relations are as old as Indian civilisation, it got momentum after the emergence of Saudi Arabia and India as independent sovereign states.
The bilateral ties between these two countries have evolved substantially over a period of time leading to conferring the highest civilian award of the Kingdom on Modi. The visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman to New Delhi in February 2019 added fresh impetus to the bilateral ties.
Ties during pandemic
The Covid-19 second wave outbreak and the deadliest health emergency in India brought the two countries closer and Saudi Arabia stood in solidarity with India as its close friend and shipped around 200 tonnes of liquid oxygen to India as a goodwill gesture, whereas India as the largest manufacturer of vaccine, supplied millions of coronavirus vaccine doses to Saudi Arabia. Such gestures are the clear manifestation of the close friendship between the two nations and their leadership.
Cultural relations
The cultural linkages in the past, in fact, have brought these two regions closer to each other and provided the base to maintain the relationship of similar sort in the contemporary times. It is noteworthy that India, in ancient times, was far ahead of the world in science, philosophy and literature. As a result of age-old relations between India and Arab world, the Arabs became acquainted with some facts of rich intellectual heritage of India. They had a very high opinion of the Indians. After the rise of Islam when Arabs developed a keen sense of intellectual curiosity and a voracious appetite for learning, they were naturally attracted to the intellectual legacy of India which served as a source of knowledge to them, especially in the fields of astronomy, mathematics, medicine, philosophy, wisdom and literature.
Moreover, Indians played a major role in the economic and social life of the Saudi people during pre-oil period onwards. The visits of affluent pilgrims from India on Haj used to be a great source of income for the local people. The relationship is not limited to people to people contact, its cultural relations strengthened at the Government level from time to time. The inauguration of the 32nd edition of “Janaderiyah the National Festival of Heritage and Culture” jointly by King Salman and late Shushma Swaraj, then Indian External Affairs Minister, as Guest of Honour in 2018, and signing of an MoU between Saudi Ministry of Sports and Indian Ministry of Ayush on Yoga cooperation are some recent examples of growing strong Indo-Saudi cultural relations.
Social relations: Indian expatriates are relatively most preferred community
There are about 3-million strong Indian community in Saudi Arabia, which is the largest expatriate community in the Kingdom. They are relatively the most preferred community among the expatriates. The contributions made by the Indian community for the development of Saudi Arabia have always been appreciated by the Saudi Government. During pandemic, the Saudi Government provided instant medical help to the bulk of affected Indian workers. Even some Indian expatriates, having realised the gravity of the situation during the pandemic, created a social media platform named “Indo-Arab Helping Hands” to establish a bridge between the huge Indian diaspora in the Gulf region and India. The forum’s main focus is to serve the Indo-Arab communities at large during these critical times. It collected requests for help and shared them with teams active in India to connect the helping hands with the recipients. They worked voluntarily and tirelessly on social media to make available plasma, blood, hospital beds, oxygen cylinders, ambulance and other necessary medicines needed by their countrymen back home and in the Gulf region who have been hit by a massive Covid 19 wave. Their efforts were noticed and appreciated by the mainstream media in India.
Prospects of Indo-Saudi relations
Indo-Saudi economic ties show tremendous growth over the periods of time. According to present data, Saudi Arabia is the fourth largest trading partner of India after China, the USA and Japan. Crude oil and LPG are the two major sources of energy that India imports from Saudi Arabia. India is keenly interested to attract foreign investment, reflected in policies of the Indian Government’s “Ease of Business” and FDI.
Gulf countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, could be an attractive strategic partner in developing India’s economy by investing in different economic sectors.
On the other hand, India has been and would be the future market for oil. As per the trend and views of economists, the Indian economy would rise over the next couple of decades which will generate the demand for oil, and according to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, this demand is expected to rise by 130 per cent by 2040. Saudi Arabia will be an important market for Indian goods as well, particularly for precious stones, agricultural and pharmaceutical products, etc.
Therefore, the celebration of “The Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” in Saudi Arabia and entire Arab world seems to be the manifestation and demonstration of the strong ties of Indo-Arab relations that developed steadily but strongly over the period. The celebrations of continued efforts of strengthening their bilateral relation for 75 years are certainly the new herald of more strong and vigorous Indo-Saudi ties.
(The writer is a faculty member of King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, KSA. He is the founder and Chairman of Indo-Arab Helping Hands and the International Advisor of Millennial India International Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture)