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and the state and its ulema refused to recognize diversity and tolerate and
accept even Shi’ism with the respect it deserves. Depicting even the People
of the Book, followers of the other two Abrahamic faiths (Jews and
Christians), in a derogatory manner has not been uncommon in Saudi
textbooks (Shea and Al-Ahmed 2006 ).^1 This Saudi worldview got a rude
shock with the September 11 terror attacks and the resultant backlash
forced the al-Saud to fight and dilute religious extremism in the education
system (Prokop 2003 ). The newly found Saudi commitment for “toler-
ance, harmony, diversity and dialogue” (India, MEA 2006a) was the
reflection of this changing reality (Hussain 2016 , 164–65).
Moreover, terrorism has become a menace for Kingdom, especially
since the Khobar Towers bombing in June 1996 where 19 US service
personnel were killed and over 300 wounded. In the wake of the
September 11 attacks leniency towards terrorism was a political liability
and the Delhi Declaration referred to terrorism as “scourge of all man-
kind” and vowed to “combat and eradicate the menace of terrorism” and
to cooperate in fighting “international crimes like money laundering,
drugs and arms smuggling in a sustained and comprehensive manner.”
The subsequent Saudi willingness to quietly extradite persons wanted by
India for criminal offenses was the outcome of this shift. Some of those
sent back to India had Pakistani connections and made the turnaround
even more interesting.
On the energy front, both were appreciative of each other’s position;
the Saudi willingness to be “a trusted and reliable source” for the interna-
tional market and India’s efforts towards “a regional forum for dialogue
among Asian oil and gas producers and consumers” were complementary.
Both pledged to develop “a strategic energy partnership” that would
encompass, green energy, upstream and downstream joint ventures in
both the countries “as well as in third countries.” The Kingdom declared
its intention to invest in “oil refining, marketing and storage” in India and
the later in setting up of joint ventures “for gas-based fertilizer plants” in
the Kingdom.
In recent years, the Kingdom has been expanding its educational infra-
structure towards meeting the growing domestic population and demands.
(^1) The treatment of Hindus as people of the book is complicated. Historically Muslim
dynasties in India treated them as dhimmis primarily due to political and administrative con-
siderations but despite this, the ulema has refused to accept them as People of the Book due
to theological incompatibility between the Abrahamic faith and polytheistic Hinduism.
P. R. KUMARASWAMY AND MD. M. QUAMAR