The Ambassador of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to the Republic of India Mr. Saleh Mohd. Al-Ghamdi graced the Sir Syed Day celebrations at Aligarh Muslim University on Tuesday, 17^th October 2006 as Chief Guest. The Aligarh Muslim University, which was founded in the middle of 19^th century, is one of the oldest and largest universities of India where around 28,000 students from India and a number of other countries pursue their studies. The grand Sir Syed Day function – which is organized by the University every year to celebrate the birth anniversary of its founder Sir Syed Ahmad Khan – was attended by more than 1500 people including the students and members of the faculty of the University and prominent Muslim personalities.

In his address on this occasion, Ambassador Al-Ghamdi thanked the Vice-Chancellor of the University Mr. Naseem Ahmad for inviting him to participate in Sir Syed Day celebrations and giving him the honour of being the Chief Guest, and lauded the great contribution of Aligarh Muslim University towards promoting modern education among the Muslim community in India.

The Ambassador spoke in detail about the historic visit of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz to India in January this year which has opened new vistas of cooperation between the two countries in all fields of mutual interest including education. He also recalled that the late King Saud Bin Abdul Aziz, during his visit to India in 1955 had visited Aligarh Muslim University where he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Law.

It may be noted that Sir Syed Day function has been graced by very eminent dignitaries in the past including Heads of Governments and Ministers. The late Indian leader Jawaharlal Nehru was the first to attend this function as Chief Guest after the independence of India in 1947. The invitation extended to Ambassador Al-Ghamdi to attend this function as Chief Guest was in recognition of Saudi Arabia’s leading role in the Islamic world and an appreciation of Ambassador’s efforts towards strengthening the bilateral relationship between the Kingdom and India.