Muslim diplomat crisis delays Indian Ambassador posting in Saudi Arabia

Jeddah: The inordinate delay in appointing an ambassador to Saudi Arabia, after the transfer of Ausaf Sayeed, has raised quite a few eyebrows not only among the diplomatic circles but also among the expats living in the oil rich country. It was widely believed that Ausaf Sayeed’s tenure would be extended till his retirement next year, but he was transferred and posted to New Delhi. The insufficient strength of the diplomatic corps is often cited as the reason for the delay in posting high-ranking diplomats to this oil rich kingdom.

More over, India has the practise of posting only muslim officers as ambassadors in Riyadh and consul generals in Jeddah from a long time. The reason cited was that of handling the annual Haj pilgrimage operations. But truth is that the ambassador does not have much role to play in Haj operations. Pakistan sends higher number of Hajis than India, yet its ambassador or consul general have little role to play in Haj operations, similarly Russia sends largest pilgrims from Europe and it has no Muslim diplomat. But India has been traditionally appointing only Muslims as Ambassadors and Consul Generals.

And another issue that compounds the problem is the non-availability of Muslim officers in the ministry, with the muslim officeers barely constituting one per cent of the 800 IFS officers.

Hyderabad native Dr. Ausaf Sayeed, who recently finished his tenure in Saudi Arabia, is the only senior diplomat of 1989 batch and the only senior Muslim IFS officer in the ministry. Most NRIs describe him as a master of Indo-Saudi relations.

Former PMO official Javed Ashraf, who presently serves as Ambassador in France and had played an important role in Rafale jets deal and Anwar Haleem, ambassador in Jordan, Nagma Mohammed Mallick in Poland – all from 1991 batch, are the seniors among Muslims.

Javed Ashraf, Nagma are unlikelky to be posted to Riyadh as they continue their tenures in Paris and Warsaw, but they had not worked earlier in this part of the world. However, Anwar Haleem, who worked previously in Saudi and Middle East, who is completing his tenure in Amman is being tipped for the post in Saudi Arabia, sources say.

But many believe that the appointment of a non-muslim IFS could not be ruled out too.