By TCN News,
Riyadh: Indian Ambassador to Saudia Arabia Talmiz Ahmad was awarded King Abdul Aziz Medal for his contributions in promoting bilateral relations between Indian and Saudi Arabia.
On behalf of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia Prince Saud conferred the award on Ahmad at a function on Sunday in an event attended by Saudi officials and dignitaries.
“This (award) is a tribute from Saudi Arabia to Talmiz Ahmad for his contributions in promoting bilateral relations between the two countries during his two tenures as Indian ambassador,” said Prince Al-Faisal.
Talmiz Ahmad
Ambassador Ahmad is the first Indian envoy to have been conferred with this Saudi honor.
“I was surprised and overwhelmed with the award,” Ahmad told the Saudi Gazette after getting the award.
Talmiz Ahmad joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1974. During the last 35 years, he has been posted n Kuwait, Baghdad and Sana’a, and later as Consul General in Jeddah (1987-90). He has also served in the Indian diplomatic Missions in New York, London and Pretoria.
Between1998-2000 he was head of the Hajj Division in the Ministry of External Affairs. He was first appointed as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia in January 2000. In july 2003, he was appointed Indian Ambassador to Oman. In August 2004, as the head of a team he negotiated the release of seven Indians taken hostage in Iraq.
Between 2005 and 2007 he was back in India working as Additional Secretary at Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and then as Director General of the Indian Council of World Affairs. In August 2007, he was appointed as the Ambassador of India to the UAE in which position he continued till January 2010. He has been Ambassador to Saudi Arabia since then and will retire from current position in August 2011.
Talmiz Ahmad writes and lectures regularly on Political Islam, the politics of West Asia and energy security. His papers on energy have appeared in several books and journals. In 2005 he published a book Reform in the Arab World: External Influences and Regional Debates.