NEW DELHI: Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan, along with Minister of State for Women and Child Development and Minority Affairs Smriti Irani will visit Saudi Arabia on Sunday to sign and exchange the bilateral Haj Agreement 2024.
“The Haj Quota for this year is likely to be 1,75,000 which will be significant,” according to a source.
Minister Irani is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with the Minister of Haj and Umrah Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Dr Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al Rabiah.
The discussions will be based on areas of mutual interest primarily for the forthcoming Haj this year. Notably, Dr Tawfiq was in Delhi in December and had reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s commitment to enable more Indians in undertaking the annual pilgrimage.
“During our meetings with Minister Irani, we explored various opportunities that we aim to capitalise and challenges that we are dedicated to overcoming. We will also facilitate arrival of more pilgrims for Umrah,” Dr Tawfiq said.
He also pointed out that there was a 22 per cent increase (1.2 million) in people travelling for Umrah from India in 2023 when compared to 2022.
India and Saudi Arabia are also considering enhancing air services, including low cost carriers from Saudi Arabia like Flynas and Flyadeal.
Meanwhile, the Indian delegation is also slated to meet the Indian business community and Indian diaspora in Saudi Arabia.
On January 8, the minister will attend the opening ceremony of the thid Edition of ‘Haj and Umrah Conference’ in Jeddah being organised by the Saudi Ministry of Haj and Umrah Affairs.