JEDDAH / TIA News
Saudi Arabia has fixed a quota of 136,020 Indian Haj pilgrims for this year. 100,020 pilgrims will come through the Haj Committee of India and the other 36,000 through private tour operators (PTOs).
This was decided in an agreement signed between Minister of State for External Affairs Gen. V.K. Singh withSaudi Haj Minister Bandar Hajjar here on Thursday.
Saudi and Indian officials also discussed various other Haj-related issues. Both sides agreed to work and coordinate closely for Haj 2016.
A high-level delegation, led by Minister of State for External Affairs Gen. V.K. Singh, was in Jeddah.
The Indian delegation included Ambassador Ahmad Javed, Consul General B.S. Mubarak and Aseem Mahajan, OSD (Haj) at the Ministry of External Affairs.
Others in delegation were Rakesh Mohan, joint secretary at the Ministry of Minority Affairs; Ataur Rahman, chief executive officer of India’s Haj Committee; Puja Jindal, director of the Ministry of Civil Aviation; and Mohammed Shahid Alam, deputy consul general and Haj consul.
The Saudi side included Husain Shareef, deputy Haj minister; Mohammed Simsim, deputy minister for transportation (projects and holy Haj sites); Prince Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Saa’d Al-Saud, deputy interior minister for affairs of the regions; and other officials.
On account of the ongoing expansion at the Grand Mosque, the Kingdom has reduced the quota for all countries by 20 percent and for Saudi and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) pilgrims by 50 percent.