Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia ink Hajj accord

Bangladesh has signed a 2025 Hajj agreement with Saudi Arabia. The bilateral agreement was signed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, at 10 am local time on Sunday. This information was given through a press release from the Ministry of Religious Affairs on Sunday.

The release said that on behalf of Bangladesh, Religious Adviser Dr. A. F. M. Khalid Hossain and on behalf of Saudi Arabia, the country's Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al Rabiah, signed the Hajj agreement.

At the agreement signing ceremony, the Religious Adviser discussed the progress of Bangladesh's overall Hajj management with the Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah, according to the release. It said that at this time, the Religious Adviser requested the Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah to reconsider the issue of reducing the minimum quota of pilgrims per Bangladeshi Hajj agency from 1,000. But the Saudi Hajj and Umrah Minister has maintained the minimum quota of pilgrims per agency at 1,000.

It is worth noting that in a bilateral meeting held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in October last year, the Religious Affairs Adviser requested the Saudi Hajj and Umrah Minister to reduce the minimum quota of pilgrims per agency from 2,000 to 250. In response to his request, the Saudi Hajj and Umrah Ministry reduced the minimum quota of pilgrims per Bangladeshi agency from 2,000 to 1,000 for 2025. However, next year, this quota will be 2,000.

The agreement signing ceremony was attended by Religious Affairs Secretary AKM Aftab Hossain Pramanik, Additional Secretary of the Hajj Division Matiul Islam, Bangladesh Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Delwar Hossain, Consul General Mia Mohammad Mainul Kabir, Counselor (Hajj) Md. Zahirul Islam and the advisor's private secretary Sadeq Ahmed, along with senior officials from the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, were present.