He noted that during the meeting, Kobilov offered his region to serve as a transit point for flights of Indonesian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.
"They invited our Umrah pilgrims to have their transit in Samarkand, assuming that flights (from Indonesia) to Samarkand took eight and a half hours, and (the next flight leg) to Saudi Arabia took three and a half hours. It is an attractive offer," the deputy speaker stated after the meeting at the Parliament Complex here.
However, Iskandar said he welcomed the offers conditionally. He requested that fees to be borne by Indonesian Umrah pilgrims for transit in Samarkand should be lower than that for the transit to Turkey.
"The second condition is that facilities and infrastructure in Samarkand must be adequate. I have been informed that new hotels have been developed there," the deputy speaker noted.
Samarkand has the potential to be an attractive religious tourism destination for Indonesians, as important Muslim Hadith scholars -- Muhammad al-Bukhari and At-Tirmidhi -- hailed from cities of present-day Uzbekistan, he emphasized.
"Every Indonesian knows who is Al-Bukhari since we learn our Hadith from him. Indonesians are fanatics of Al-Bukhari," Iskandar stated.
The deputy speaker was accompanied by DPR RI Commission III legislator Cucun Ahmad Syamsurijal and Commission IV Chairperson Faisol Rizal during the meeting with Kobilov.
Kobilov attended the meeting with Iskandar to represent Uzbek Ambassador to Indonesia, Ulugbek Rozukulov, who could not join the meeting.
After the meeting, Kobilov presented Iskandar some souvenirs that includes books on Uzbek history and culture and a wooden book holder for the Quran.
Samarkand, a city located in the southeastern part of Uzbekistan, is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities, with a history spanning over 2,500 years. Located in the heart of the ancient Silk Road, Samarkand was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2001.
Related news: UHAMKA forges educational cooperation with Uzbek state universities
Related news: Ministry prepares food, medicine management road map for Hajj, Umrah
Translator: Melalusa Susthira, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2023
