Tuesday, December 5, 2023
Saudi Arabia announces new Visa centers, direct flights for Indian Pilgrims
The Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, said on Tuesday that the country will open new visa centers in India and start offering low-cost flights to help the growing number of Indian tourists on their Umrah journeys. Trending : Umrah health insurance coverage details
Al-Rabiah is in New Delhi as part of an official trip to improve working relationships with Indian officials and partners and make it easier for people from other countries to make the Umrah journey.
- As part of Saudi Vision 2030 reform plan, the Kingdom has used new technologies, new regulations, and better infrastructure to "transform Umrah into a rewarding religious journey" for Muslims around the world, Al-Rabiah said at a joint press meeting in the Indian capital.
- India, a country where Hindus are the majority, has the world's largest Muslim minority group, with more than 200 million Muslims.
- The number of Indians making the Umrah pilgrimage rose by about 74% from the previous year, to more than 1.2 million. Most Viewed : Saudi Arabia to plant 600 million trees by the Year 2030
- Al-Rabiah said that the rise was due to efforts by both Saudi Arabia and India to work together. He also said that the two countries were talking about adding more direct flights between them "to accommodate the growing number of Indians wanting to perform Umrah."
- "We are also working to increase capacity to handle the expected rise by adding new scheduled flights through flynas and flyadeal, two low-cost Saudi national airlines," he said.
- "These efforts are complemented by plans to make the process of getting a visa easier and open three new visa centers in India." Both sides talked about how they can work together to make it easier for Indian pilgrims to get to the two holy cities of Madina and Makkah. Nusuk introductory platform exhibition and the Tashir center is also introduced to make it easy for Indian pilgrims to get visas and use visa services. Recommend : New Rights of Passengers regulations
- The goal of the visit is to show how the Kingdom helps travelers and the different services it offers, as well as to talk about the many benefits of the electronic Umrah visa and the Nusuk platform.
- Smriti Irani, the Indian minister for minorities, met with Al-Rabiah. She said that they had "productive discussions on how to further deepen engagements," especially about working together for the Hajj pilgrimage.
- Irani told reporters at the news conference, "Both countries have agreed to continue to work together to make the Hajj process as easy and smooth as possible for all Hajj pilgrims." See Also : Is it possible to extend exit re-entry after its expiry?
- In the year 2023, about 175,000 Indians, almost 47% of whom were women, went to Saudi Arabia on the Hajj, a religious trip that is one of the five pillars of Islam.
- Vellamvelly Muraleedharan, India's Minister of State for External Affairs, said that Al-Rabiah's visit would "strengthen the overall bilateral partnership" between the two countries. He also said that Hajj was a "important part" of that relationship.
- "We both know that our partnership will be good for the world and our own countries and communities," Muraleedharan said. Follow Saudi Expatriates on X platform
Muslim Indian nationals who wants to perform Umrah rituals can perform easily by one of the following ways.
1. Book an Umrah package through Nusuk.sa
2. Obtain a Family visit visa through relatives residing in Saudi Arabia.
3. Obtain a Transit e-Visa, only for transiting passengers by air through Saudi Airlines (Saudia) or Flynas.
4. Get a Personal Visit Visa, through any of Saudi citizen friend or relative.
5. Indians holding US, UK or Schengen visas can get on-arrival visa.
6. Indians who are residing in any GCC country can get e-Visa. Join Saudi Expatriates channel on Telegram
