Jeddah: Union Minister for WCD and Minority Affairs Smriti Zubin Irani accompanied by V Muraleedharan, MoS for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs met with Prof Dr Ali Erbas, President of Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) in Turkiye and with Dato' Setia Na'im bin Mokhtar, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Islamic Affairs) respectively in two separate meetings on the sidelines of the signing of the Bilateral Haj Agreement 2024 with Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in Jeddah, KSA, the Ministry of Minority Affairs said in a press release.

During the meetings, experiences on Haj management and administration were shared and there was an exchange of ideas on best practices with the respective counterparts.

"Productive discussions today with Prof. @DIBAliErbas, President of the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet),Turkiye. Explored avenues for shared growth and stronger India-Turkiye bilateral ties, while exchanging insights on Haj management and adoption of best practices for enhanced pilgrimage experience," said Smriti Irani in a post on X.

The scope for digital initiatives for seamless delivery of services, setting up and enhancement of robust and reliable medical facilities for the pilgrims, measures taken especially for the care and facilitation of the women pilgrims were particularly discussed, the release added.

It was further resolved that avenues and scope for further exchange of ideas and collaboration would be explored so as to ensure that maximum benefits from the adoption of best practices accrue to the Haj pilgrims.

Earlier, Irani, accompanied by Muraleedharan, signed the Bilateral Haj Agreement 2024 with Saudi Arabia's Minister for Hajj and Umrah Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah in Jeddah.

A total quota of 1,75,025 pilgrims from India has been finalised for Haj 2024, with 1,40,020 seats reserved for pilgrims to proceed through the Haj Committee of India.Moreover, this will greatly benefit the common first-time pilgrims intending to undertake the Haj pilgrimage in 2024, whereas 35,005 pilgrims would be permitted to proceed through Haj Group Operators.

During the meeting with the Minister of Hajj and Umrah, the digital initiatives of the Indian government in facilitating and promoting ease and convenience for the Indian Haj pilgrims by providing last-mile information to the pilgrims were greatly appreciated by Saudi Arabia.

Furthermore, "they offered to extend all possible help in this regard," according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

The initiative by the Indian government towards encouraging participation under the Ladies without Mehram (LWM) category was discussed, deeply appreciated and lauded.

Later, Smriti Irani and MoS Muraleedharan visited the Haj Terminal of King Abdulaziz International Airport to oversee the arrangements for Haj pilgrims.

"Subsequent to the signing of the Bilateral Haj Agreement and the meeting with the Minister of Hajj and Umrah, KSA, Smriti Zubin Irani accompanied by Muraleedharan visited the Haj Terminal of King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah, to oversee the arrangements for Haj pilgrims and explore ways to facilitate better logistics and monitoring mechanism for the convenience of the Indian Haj pilgrims," according to the statement.