What did Saudi Arabia say in India on Taliban, Pakistan, and Kashmir?

Posted on 21st Sep 2021 by rohit kumar

Visiting Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud has said that attention should be paid to resolving the issues permanently through dialogue between India and Pakistan.

 

According to the report of 'The Hindu' newspaper, during the first visit of the Saudi Foreign Minister to India, the future of Afghanistan was also discussed in the talks between the two countries. He also talked about investment plans in India. However, Saudi Arabia's promise to invest $100 billion in India in the year 2019 has not been fulfilled yet.

 

Foreign Minister Al-Saud also offered to mediate between India and Pakistan on behalf of Saudi Arabia. On the issue of Afghanistan, when he was asked that you talked to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Afghanistan. But as you know, neither Saudi Arabia nor India has any diplomatic presence in Kabul nor are there any formal talks with the Taliban regime. How will such two countries cooperate on this issue?

 

In response, he said, "On the issue of Afghanistan, I think the biggest concern is about stability. Our other major concern is about security and we do not want terrorism to spread from the soil of Afghanistan to other countries. And in this connection, It is the responsibility of the current leadership of Afghanistan, the Taliban, to make good decisions, run good government and take everyone along and move forward on the path of stability, security, and prosperity.

 

On India-Saudi Arabia relations and the promise of investment of $100 billion, he said, "We have had a multifaceted relationship with India. India is our major partner country. The implementation of some plans has been delayed due to the Corona epidemic. But Despite this, India is the third-largest trading partner of Saudi Arabia. Even when this announcement was made, we had a direct investment of $ 500 million in India which has now increased to $ 3 billion.

 

On whether Saudi Arabia is reconsidering its promise to invest $100 billion, the Saudi Foreign Minister said, "Our priorities have not changed. Our enthusiasm for relations with India has not diminished. The reason is that some activities have come down. Of course, it has had an impact on oil and other things. But the statement was given. Was there any conversation with the Government of India about this?

 

The Saudi Foreign Minister said, "From our point of view, these are all domestic issues on which the people of India and the Government of India have to decide. We will always support any initiative of the Government of India in this regard. But from our point of view it is India." domestic issues."

 

Not getting 'minority educational institution status' as before

During the tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, there has been a sharp decline in the cases of 'minority educational institutions' given by the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions.

 

According to the report of the 'Telegraph' newspaper published from Kolkata, funding for this 'quasi-judicial body' comes from the central government.

 

This commission, set up in the year 2004, is empowered to grant 'minority educational institutions' status to educational institutions set up by individuals belonging to Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, and Parsi communities or organizations affiliated to these communities.

 

State governments can also independently grant minority status to an institution. This entitles these institutions to reserve half the seats for their community.

 

The newspaper writes that at the beginning of the Modi government, there was a relatively small decline in the cases of 'minority educational institution' status.

 

1516 in the year 2014, 1096 in the year 2015, 1122 in the year 2016, 580 in the year 2017, 289 in the year 2018, 10 in the year 2019, and 11 in the year 2020, 11 educational institutions have been given minority status. So far in the year 2021, 6 institutions have got the status.