Over 20 mn Indians contributing to our society: Saudi Arabia minister

Saudi Arabia's Deputy Minister of Media Khalid bin Abdulqader Al-Ghamdi has lauded the contribution of Indians residing in the country.

Al-Ghamdi's statement comes after Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Media launched the 'global harmony' initiative in Riyadh as part of the "Quality of Life" Program to attain its Vision 2030 objectives.The Riyadh season started on October 13.

The events and activities in the Riyadh season represent the cultures of 11 countries including - India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, Yemen, Sudan, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Bangladesh, and Egypt over 45 days. The activities include concerts, cultural, entertainment and family events, traditional foods, and various handicraft exhibitions.

There are 2.6 million Indians currently living in Saudi Arabia. Highlighting the contribution of Indians in the Saudi Society, the deputy minister said the relationship with India is important.

"The relationship between our countries is witnessing improvement, witnessing so many new arenas of cooperation including economics, cultural or all the aspects and these will be aligned to vision 2030 or its counterpart long-term projects in India. There are 2.6 million Indians in Saudi Arabia which shows how much they are contributing in our society," he said.

The Saudi deputy minister also highlighted the previous visits made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the year 2016 and 2019 and said, "It is one manifestation of how strong the relationship between both the countries is. It is leadership and political aspects for all the relevance of the relationship between the two countries and are all together moving toward future based on our vision 2030 and long term vision of India relationship."

The Ministry of Media, in partnership with the General Entertainment Authority, has organised events in the city that feature cultural, artistic, and folkloric activities and shows.

"This is an initiative by Ministry of Media. It is one of the initiative of the Vision 2030 and program on quality of life of Saudi Arabia. It aims to show how residents are living in harmony in the society of Saudi Arabia," Al-Ghamdi added.