Islamic Bank President met Pranab Mukherjee.

Ahmad Mohamed Ali

Islamic Development Bank Group's President Ahmad Mohamed Ali held discussions with several Ministers in the UPA on ways to popularise Islamic banking in the country. Mr Ali also met vice-president of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Pranab Mukherjee, minority affairs minister Salman Khurshid and minister of state for external affairs E. Ahmed during his visit to the country last week.

During the meetings, Mr Ali highlighted Islamic Development Bank Group's (IDB) role in upgrading economic and social development of the Bank's member countries as well as Muslim communities in non-member countries. He touched upon ways for promoting social and economic cooperation between IDB Group and India's Muslim community on a number of grounds including development of Awqaf properties and their cost-effectiveness improvement, savings management for successful Hajj Pilgrimage experiences, education programs including connecting Quranic schools via distance learning technology and scholarships.

Ahmad Mohamed Ali met with several Ministers in the UPA

IDB has so far supported 267 educational institutions in India with financial assistance amounting to $42.8 million as grants. It has also launched a scholarship program since 1983 to enable outstanding Indian students to pursue higher studies in universities in various science and engineering related disciplines. To date, the total number of beneficiaries in the scholarship Program in India stands at 3,819 - comprising 2,986 males and 833 females - out of whom 2,564 have graduated as medical doctors and engineers, a press note issued on behalf of IDB said.

Also during his visit to India, the IDB Group President addressed the opening session of a conference on 'Hajj Pilgrimage Management' where he expressed IDB Group's readiness to cooperate with India so that the Indian Muslim community could benefit from the Malaysian experience in Hajj management by replicating Malaysia's "Tabung Haji" model.