New Delhi, June 2: An examination centre for the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) will be opened in Saudi Arabia in the next academic year 2007, Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh has said in Riyadh.

"The issue of equivalence of degrees will cease to be a problem very soon," the visiting minister told the Aligarh Muslim University Old Boys' Association (AMUOBA), which had organised a reception in his honour on May 31.

The education of Indian expatriates' children is an important issue for the Indian government and it would take every step to ensure that they did not face any difficulty, Singh said, according to an official release issued here.

The Minister also assured the AMUOBA that the minority character of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) would be protected. The government had initiated a number of steps to promote education among minorities, he added.

"The UPA Government has ensured the minorities in India get what is legitimately due to them," the Minister said.

He said while several universities had offered him honorary doctorates, he declined them and chose to accept only the doctorate awarded by the AMU, which he values and cherishes most.

The reception was attended by Indian Ambassador in Saudi Arabia M.O.H. Farook, former MP Waseem Ahmed and AMUOBA president Syed Misbahul Arifin among others.