Former vice chancellor of India’s Aligarh Muslim University Abdul Azis,  with a group of guests India\'s Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) agreed with the Saudi Embassy to working with Saudi public and private sector agencies to upgrade the facilities of the university\'s Arabic department , said noted Indian academic P.K. Abdul Azis.
Azis, who served as the AMU\'s vice chancellor, spoke at a reception of a group of Indian scientists and academics. He said that upgrading the Arabic teaching and research facility would go a long way in promoting Saudi-Indian relations. The AMU\'s Department of Arabic is the first among all Indian universities, which has been granted the status of the Center of Advanced Studies by the India\'s University Grants Commission.
Azis was in Riyadh to deliver a keynote address at a scientific conference organized by Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC). He recalled that several Saudi education delegations and faculty members visited the AMU during his tenure. To this end, he noted that the Kingdom has age-old ties with the university. It conferred a honorary doctorate on King Saud, who visited the AMU in 1955.
Azis recalled that a high-power delegation of Qassim University of Saudi Arabia visited the Zakir Hussain College of Engineering and Technology at AMU last year and discussed potential areas of joint cooperation.
Referring to the AMU\'s new chapters to be opened in different provinces of India, he said that university officials had been facing problems that required the government’s immediate attention. India\'s Union Ministry of Human Resource Development is yet to sanction funds meant for further developmental activities in the Malappuram center. The center in Bihar is yet to take off, he said.
Azis, who also served as vice chancellor of Cochin University of Science and Technology, called on the Maharashtra government to speed up the land allotment process for the proposed AMU center in that state. \"The AMU centers, which were announced with government approval, are still waiting to become functional, while demands are being made by other states to open new centers,\" he added.
He pointed out that the All India United Democratic Front has sought opening of a campus of AMU in Dhubri, a minority-dominated district of Assam, bordering Bangladesh.
On his achievements, Azis said he worked with full dedication to set up new facilities at AMU. \"The university achieved high ranking in terms of providing a better IT environment, digital library, cyber content and cable connectivity during my tenure,\" he added. “All classrooms of the university were converted into digital classrooms,” he noted.
At present, the university occupies the fifth position among Indian  universities in terms of research and publications, he said.