SAUDI OKAYS PLAN TO FERRY HAJ PILGRIMS VIA SEA ROUTE
NEWDELHI: Paving the way for the Centre to make available a cheaper mode of transport for Haj pilgrims, Saudi Arabia has given its nod to India’s plan to revive the option of ferrying devotees to Jeddah via sea route, 23 years after the practice was stopped.
Union minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi confirmed the development in a statement after he and Saudi Arabia’s Haj and Umrah minister, Mohammad Saleh bin Taher Benten, signed a bilateral annual agreement regarding the pilgrimage in Mecca on Sunday.
Terming his meeting with Benten “very fruitful”, a statement quoted Naqvi as saying: “Saudi Arabia has given its nod to revive the option of sending pilgrims by sea route... Officials from both the countries will discuss all the necessary formalities and technicalities so that Haj pilgrimage through sea route can be started in the coming years.”
However, it did not specify the year when the option for pilgrimage via sea route would be opened. As of now, devotees can travel to Saudi Arabia for performing Haj only by air. “The revolutionary, pro-poor and pilgrimfriendly decision of sending devotees through sea route will help cut down travel expenses significantly,” Naqvi said.
The minister said for the first time, Muslim women from India would go to Haj without ‘Mehram’ (male companion).