Indian Hajj pilgrims accorded a warm welcome! Ambassador Suhel Khan joined Minister of Transport & Logistic Services Saleh Al-Jasser in receiving the first flight of pilgrims at Madinah Airpor
The first groups of pilgrims from different countries have arrived in Saudi Arabia ahead of this year’s Hajj.
Among them were 283 pilgrims from India, who were welcomed upon arrival at Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Medina by the Minister of Transport and Logistics Services, Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, and the Deputy Minister of ‘Hajj and Umrah, Abdel Fattah bin Sulaiman Mashat.
Al-Jasser said that 7,700 flights carrying Hajj pilgrims will arrive at six airports this year and Saudi authorities are committed to providing them with the best services during their stay in the Kingdom. More than 27,000 buses will be in service, he added, and Al-Haramain and Al-Mashaer high-speed trains will complete more than 5,000 trips.
Indian Ambassador to the Kingdom, Suhel Ajaz Khan, who joined Saudi ministers in greeting the first of this year’s pilgrims, told Arab News: “The Indian mission in Saudi Arabia is fully ready to welcome the Indian pilgrims and to ensure a fulfilling experience for the Kingdom Hajj 2024.
“This year, the Consulate General of India in Jeddah, in close coordination with the concerned ministries of the Government of India and the support of the concerned agencies in Saudi Arabia, has made utmost efforts to put in place a well-planned and thorough operational plan architecture to facilitate a smooth Hajj experience for pilgrims.
“We have a new smart app, Haj Suvidha App, which we have developed for pilgrim facilitation and grievance redressal mechanism, with an aim to ensure a seamless pilgrimage journey with our app, dedicated to simplifying the Hajj application process for Indian citizens.
“This seamless operational architecture of Hajj 2024, created by the (Indian Consulate) has now been set in motion with the arrival of the first two flights carrying Indian Hajj pilgrims from Hyderabad and New Delhi. Eleven more flights are expected to arrive throughout the day, which will see around 4,000 Indian Hajj pilgrims arrive on the first day in Medina.”
The first Hajj flight from Bangladesh, carrying 415 pilgrims, landed at Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport on Thursday morning. The country’s ambassador to the Kingdom, Mohammad Javed Patwary, joined other Bangladesh mission officials to welcome them at the airport.
“We are really happy to serve the pilgrims from Bangladesh,” the envoy told Arab News. “We have seen regular service for the last three years under the Makkah Route Initiative; It gets better and better every year.
“Officials from all relevant Saudi ministries, including the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah and the Ministry of Health, are here to welcome the pilgrims and help make this journey of a lifetime an enjoyable experience.”
The Makkah Route initiative is part of Saudi Arabia’s Guests of God service program, inaugurated by King Salman in 2019. It seeks to provide visitors to the holy sites with the best possible services to help them perform Hajj rituals easily and comfortably .