King Salman is a friend of India, says diplomat

[email protected] (Arab News.)
January 30, 2015

Salman diplomat

Jeddah, Jan 30: India is looking forward to having stronger relations with Saudi Arabia under the leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, who is a friend of India like King Abdullah, said Consul General B.S. Mubarak.

“Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with King Salman on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Brisbane, Australia. During that meeting, the Saudi ruler expressed his desire to expand cooperation with India in all sectors,” Mubarak said.

“It was like an open invitation for Indians and we hope that bilateral relations will become stronger in the coming years,” the Indian diplomat said.

Mubarak said New Delhi was extremely happy over the quick and smooth transition in the Kingdom, following the death of King Abdullah on Friday.

“The smooth transition of power was anticipated. King Salman has been very active as the crown prince. He has stated on the first day that he would follow the policies of his predecessors,” Mubarak said.

King Abdullah had very special relations with India, the consul general said. “India was one of the first countries he visited after becoming the king in 2005. King Salman has also maintained a special relationship with India. He visited India last February heading a high-level delegation including business leaders.”

He said Prime Minister Modi sent a high-level delegation with 18 members on a special flight under the leadership of Vice President Hamid Ansari to take part in King Abdullah’s funeral, despite their engagements in making huge arrangements for the Republic Day in New Delhi.

“Our delegation was ready to come on Friday to take part in the burial, but could not make it because the ceremony took place soon after Asr prayer on that day,” the consul general said, stressing the warmth of relations between the two countries.

India announced a one-day national mourning on Saturday in honor of King Abdullah and all Indian flags across the country flew at half-mast. “We toned down the Republic Day celebrations in the Kingdom and postponed the reception planned for the occasion,” he said.

He said he is quite optimistic about the future of the relations between the two counties. “King Salman has already said he would follow in the footsteps of his predecessors and that there would not be any change in major policies,” he noted.

Mubarak said King Salman is well known to many Indian political leaders due to their mutual friendship and his longstanding and strong presence in the Saudi government as governor of Riyadh, defense minister, crown prince and deputy premier.

During Salman’s visit to New Delhi when he was crown prince, the two countries signed an agreement for defense cooperation. “We have also strengthened cooperation in combating terrorism,” he said while emphasizing the strategic Saudi-India ties.

He added: “Indians represent the highest expat population in Saudi Arabia which indicates that Saudi individuals and businesses prefer Indian manpower primarily because of the quality of work. Moreover, our people are law-abiding, hardworking and competitive in nature.”

He said that the volume of bilateral trade reached almost $50 billion. Moreover, Saudi Arabia hosts more than 200,000 Indian Haj and Umrah pilgrims every year. Many Indian companies, particularly those specialized in IT, consultancy and engineering operate in the Kingdom. “They have won Saudi contracts because of quality and cost-effectiveness,” the consul general said.

He said many Saudi companies including SABIC, Saudi Aramco, petrochemical and steel firms have shown interest in investing in specific projects in India. “Saudi businessmen also visit exhibitions in our country to explore trade opportunities and outsource their operations.”

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News Network
March 26,2024

Bengaluru: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has detained two suspects in connection with the Rameshwaram Cafe blast case in Bengaluru, sources confirmed on Tuesday.

The preliminary probe has revealed that the two suspects were in direct contact with the suspected bomber.

The NIA sleuths have picked up the suspects from an area in the state capital. However, a statement is yet to be made by the NIA in this regard.

Even as the investigating agencies, both NIA and state special wing CCB teams have launched an extensive search operation in various states, the bomber has remained elusive. The authorities had obtained the bomber’s images and videos from CCTV footage on March 1, soon after the incident.

Sources said that the sleuths were suspecting that the bomber had come from Tamil Nadu and was staying in a neighbouring state for two months before carrying out the blast.

The hair samples of the accused were gathered from the hat of the accused which he abandoned in Bengaluru near a religious place. The authorities have sent the samples for the DNA testing and were hoping for a breakthrough.

The Rameshwaram Cafe bomb blast took place on March 1 on the International Technology Park Limited (ITPL) road in the Brookfield area. Low intensity Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was used to carry out the blast and nine persons were injured in the incident.

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News Network
March 19,2024

jeddah.jpg

Mangaluru: The Mangalore International Airport (MIA) will connect to a new domestic destination with the introduction of a non-stop flight to Tiruchirappalli International Airport in Tamil Nadu. 

The non-stop service, once-a-week, will operate on Wednesday (from TIA) and Thursday (from MIA), starting April 3. Air India Express will operate the flight.

The flight is expected to help those taking up a pilgrimage to Vailankani shrine.

Sources from the AIE said that the airline carrier decided to fly non-stop between the two southern Indian cities as a flight to Jeddah, which will start from April 3, arrives from Tiruchirappalli International Airport. 

“It is a ferry or positional flight from TIA to MIA. Instead of flying empty, the management has decided to run it as a commercial flight. This will help both passengers and the airline. The airline will deploy Boeing 737-800 aircraft with a 186-seater all-economy configuration on this route. 

The same flight, after landing in MIA, will further fly to Jeddah,” a source said. 

The flight IX 1498 will depart every Thursday at 5am from MIA to TIA. The TIA-MIA flight IX 1499 departs at 12.50pm. It is a one-hour nonstop flight. The same flights will also operate nonstop between Jeddah and MIA. 

The non-stop flight IX 499 will depart MIA at 2.50pm and reach King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah at 6.25pm. The IX498, will depart from Jeddah at 7.25pm and reach MIA early at 3.40am.

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News Network
March 26,2024

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Mangaluru: Officials from Cyber Economic and Narcotics Crime Police Station in Mangaluru have arrested a man for allegedly engaging in an online fraud by deceiving a person on the pretext of offering a part-time job. The arrested is Saddam Gauri alias Bavuri, 30, from Rajasthan.

City police commissioner Anupam Agrawal said the CEN police received a complaint regarding an online scam related to a part-time job offer.

Police registered a case under sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the IT Act, along with IPC Section 420. The complainant had received a link via WhatsApp from an unknown number, purportedly offering a part-time job opportunity.

Upon clicking the link, the complainant was instructed to complete certain tasks to earn money. However, during the process, the complainant incurred a loss of Rs 1.1 lakh.

Following an investigation into the matter, the CEN police successfully arrested the suspect and presented him before the court. In the course of arrest, police seized two mobile phones, eight debit cards, four bank cheque books, Aadhaar card, PAN card, and other relevant documents from the accused.

The arrest was made possible through the efforts of CEN station inspector Shyam Sundar and his team, under the guidance of City Crime Records Bureau (CCRB) ACP Ravish Nayak and DCP Siddharth Goyal.

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