Aligarh: Aligarh Muslim University has sought permission from the Centre for granting an honorary Doctor of Literature degree to Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, officials said on Sunday. AMU spokesman Shafey Kidwai said that AMU Vice Chancellor Tariq Mansoor had sent the proposal to the Union government for approval last year. The request has since been pending with the Ministry of External Affairs.

"The matter is still pending with the government and according to AMU sources, the university has been asked to share the names of previous foreign dignitaries including heads of states, who have been conferred this degree in the past," Kidwai said, adding the AMU had informed the government about the list shortly after they were asked to do so. 

In a letter to the Centre, the AMU VC had sought to honor the Saudi prince for his attempts for “global betterment.” The Saudi Prince attended King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in law in 2007.

In his letter, Mansoor had pointed out that in December 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in a speech lauded the AMU's efforts for improving India's global outreach especially with the Islamic world. According to the AMU officials, the university has in the past conferred similar degrees to eight heads of state and six international luminaries including the former King of Saudi Arabia Ibn Saud Abdul Aziz in 1955.

Other people who were conferred with a similar degree by the AMU include, former Egypt President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1961, former Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman in 1962, Shah of Iran Mohammad Raza Pehalvi in 1956, and Chancellor of West Germany Ludwig Erhard in 1958.

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