Kuwait City:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a two-day trip to Kuwait, is likely to meet the country’s Crown Prince Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah on Sunday. This is the first visit of an Indian prime minister to Kuwait in 43 years.
Here are the latest updates on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Kuwait visit
- In the last leg of his Kuwait visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to sign an MoU to boost further the bilateral relations between India and the Gulf nation. Kuwait is India’s critical trade partner, ranking sixth-largest supplier of crude oil and meeting 3 per cent of India’s energy needs. Later, Prime Minister Modi is likely to meet his Kuwaiti counterpart Dr Mohammed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah and issue a joint statement to the media before his departure to Delhi. He is visiting Kuwait at the invitation of Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
- On the first day of his visit, Prime Minister Modi on Saturday attended the opening ceremony of the 26th Arabian Gulf Cup as the chief guest at the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium in Kuwait City. He was joined by the Emir, the Crown Prince, and the Prime Minister of Kuwait in witnessing the grand opening ceremony. The event also provided an opportunity for an informal interaction of the prime minister with the leadership of Kuwait, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a press release.
- The Prime Minister also addressed a large gathering of the Indian community at an event called ‘Hala Modi’ at the Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Indoor Sports Complex, where he hailed the diaspora’s contribution to global growth and said India has the potential to become the “skill capital of the world.”
- “The relationship between India and Kuwait is one of civilisation, the sea, affection, trade, and commerce. India and Kuwait are located on two shores of the Arabian Sea. It’s not just diplomacy that connects us, but also the bonds of the heart,” the prime minister said to a loud cheer from the gathering.
- He also expressed happiness about the presence of Indians from diverse corners of the country in the Gulf nation and called it a “mini-Hindustan.” “Every year, hundreds of Indians come to Kuwait. You have added an Indian touch to Kuwaiti society. You have filled the canvas of Kuwait with the colours of Indian skills. You have mixed the essence of India’s talent, technology, and tradition in Kuwait,” Modi said.
- Thanking the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah for his gracious invitation, Modi stated that it was after 43 years that an Indian Prime Minister was visiting Kuwait to strengthen and solidify the age-old friendship. The last Indian prime minister to visit Kuwait was Indira Gandhi in 1981.
- Earlier after arrival, he met with a 101-year-old former Indian Foreign Service officer, two Kuwaiti nationals who have translated and published iconic epics Ramayana and Mahabharata in Arabic, and visited a labour camp with a workforce of around 1,500 Indian nationals.
- Earlier as the first programme of his visit to Kuwait, Modi visited the Gulf Spic Labour Camp in the Mina Abdullah area of Kuwait with a workforce of around 1,500 Indian nationals. He interacted with a cross-section of Indian workers from different states of India, enquired about their well-being, and also sat at a table with some of them when snacks were served.
- Prime Minister Modi’s visit comes months after over 45 Indians were killed in a devastating fire in a building housing foreign workers in southern Kuwait’s Mangaf locality in June. “The visit to the labour camp is symbolic of the importance attached by the Prime Minister to the welfare of Indian workers abroad,” an MEA statement said.
- Indians constitute 21 per cent (1 million) of the total population of Kuwait and 30 per cent of its workforce (approx 9 lakhs). Indian workers top the Private Sector as well as domestic sector (DSW) workforce list, according to the Indian Embassy in Kuwait.
