Riyadh — Saudi Political Analyst Salman Al-Ansari said “India is the land of opportunity, promise and wealth” during his keynote speech at Maharana Pratap Geopolitical Dialogue 2023 held by Indian ThinkTank Usanas Foundation, co-hosted by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.
Below is the transcript of his speech:
“Hello to all our Indian friends” [In Hindi].
“Did I say it right Mr. Ambassador? Yes, Amazing. So, yeah, I would like first of all to thank USANA’s Foundation and the Indian Ministry of External Affairs for co hosting this panel and in the spirit of the ancient Indian civilization’s philosophy, which emphasizes the world as one family.
“I, from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the land of the two holy mosques, the birthplace of Islam and the birthplace of the Islamic and Arab civilization and the heart of the Arab and Muslim world, would like to extend my gratitude to the great Indian people for their constant contributions to humanity.
“And actually, I vividly recall the shining smiles on the faces coupled with the genuine hospitality of all of the Indian embassy delegates and guests two weeks ago as we celebrated the 74th Republic Day of India in the in the in the cultural in the cultural palace of Riyadh.
“So I would like to shed light a little bit on the historical aspects of the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Arab world and also with India. So tracing history back to the ancient relations, which dates back to more than 1400 years, and I think it has provided an immense or immense benefit for all of humanity in the fields of science, medicine, mathematics, astronomy and more. And one of the best examples of that is.
“What we now refer to as the Arabic numbers, which the Arabs borrowed from the Indian civilization and developed and handed to Europe and the world at large. So Arab Indian cooperation is further evidence that if we look back to the ancient incense trade route with the when Arab tribes in Mecca and other cities embarked on their caravans with goods coming mostly from India.
“So your country, Mr. Ambassador, has always been one of the goodness and blessings. And before the discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia, I remember my dad actually told me, like a couple of years ago, he said, before the discovery of oil, there was a colloquial phrase that our grandfathers used to say. They say you can bet in India if life is unjust to you.
“You can bet in India if life is unjust to you. What does this mean? India is the land of opportunity, promise and wealth. And it has always been ingrained in the minds of the Arabs long time ago. So, as we all know, psychologically speaking, superiority and inferiority complexes are kind of part of a human nature.
“However, what I personally discovered about the Arab Indian relationship is that throughout history, such complexes almost do not exist at all. Arabs have always felt a deep affinity to India and its people to an extent, even right now. In current times, you can hear respected Arabic names in Saudi Arabia and many Arab countries, such as Hind, which is like many girls. Have the name hint hind means Indian and many boys are named Muhannad which also means Indian.
“So our Arabic language borrowed also some Hindi Sanskrit words so many ones, including ones that are actually mentioned in the Holy Quran, such as ginger and other words.
“So our deep respect for India transcends all areas of Arab life where you can even find in ancient poetry and literature variety of references to the pride and Arab feels when wielding an Indian sword. So there is also beautiful, this is definitely like a beautiful historical relations between the Arabs and India which I think continues into the present time as both nations have realized that it is important to enhance their bilateral relationship in light of the emerging multipolar world. And I believe that a promising future lies ahead of us.
“As you may remember, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as his elder brother. So the Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said to Modi and referred to him as his elder brother. So this deep relationship can show you that the future ahead of us is really promising. So their relationship exemplifies the entire Arab Indian relationship and we are all brothers and sisters. And culturally speaking these are some of the commonalities between the Arabs in general, not only Saudis and the Indians.
“We are both considered to be collectivistic societies as opposed to individualistic ones. And collectivistic. Society is founded on the values of family, respect for elders and hospitality. And a point worth mentioning is that Indians are actually considered to be the largest minority in Saudi Arabia right now, at over 2.2.5 million people. And I’ve heard that, Mr. Ambassador, that your daughter is actually residing in Saudi. That’s true. As if I didn’t just hear it from you. In exploring opportunities, I think our cooperation has paved the way for significant advances.
“And a prime example of that is the success we have seen with the economic reforms that are moving Saudi Arabia beyond a strictly oil based economy toward economic diversification. So these efforts have been so successful that Saudi Arabia ranked first among G 20 countries for digital competitiveness and second in after Japan, for cybersecurity. And in overcoming challenges.
“Arguably the most critical challenges that both of our nations face are absolutely the threats of extremism and terrorism, as Dr. Dalya has just mentioned, and specifically those which like extremism that are opposed by the radical Muslim Brotherhood group, a group, might I add, that has nothing to do with neither Islam nor Brotherhood. So nonetheless, I think when we are faced with a threat, we rise to the occasion.
“And Saudi Arabia and the Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman, have transformed Riyadh into the epic center and capital of global efforts to combat terrorism, forming mostly three. Organizations, international ones. The first is the Islamic Military Alliance Against Terrorism.
“The second is the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideologies, which is called Etidal and also the Ideological Warfare Center IWC and also, let’s not forget the eminence of the Muslim Ward League and Secretary General Dr. Mohammed Alisa in promoting peace, tolerance and unity among not only the Muslim nations but the whole world.
“In fact, Saudi Arabia is so committed to global peace that it even emerged as the first global donor of Official Development Assistant in 2022. And that’s definitely based on the GNI. We have seen a significant growth when it comes to the economic relations between India and Saudi Arabia.
“I think we have seen a significant growth in the trade of our two nations and according to media sources, I think the volume of trade exchange between the Kingdom and India recorded a growth close to 91% in 2022 and comparing it to the last decade.
“So we are seeing a huge cooperation in the field of trade. And Saturday, for the last four years, they have invested more than $120,000,000,000 inside India and the exchange volume between the two countries exceeds $27 billion. So I think the future is really promising in this changing world. Right now, Saudi Arabia needs India and India needs Saudi Arabia.
“Both nations can complement each other in such a manner that can build a foundation for their relationship that can keep the peace in both nations and in. Both regions as well”.
