Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: India on January 27 dispatched a consignment of bronchodilators, inhalers and ventilators to assist the people in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The humanitarian assistance to the semi-autonomous region once again spotlights India’s people-centric foreign policy and New Delhi’s commitment to the making of a ‘Vishwabandhu Bharat’, or a global friend. Over the last one decade, India has responded to the urgent needs of Iraq for relief and economic reconstruction directly and as part of international efforts under the UN auspices.
At the same time, India also opened its Consulate in Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan region, in August 2016 to further strengthen economic and commercial relations with Iraq.
Several Indian companies have participated in trade fairs and economic and commercial exhibitions held in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan region of Iraq over the past few years.
The number of Indian workers has also steadily increased in the Kurdistan region comprising Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Dohuk governorates, with better salaries and working conditions in steel mills, oil companies and construction projects.
Nechirvan Barzani, President of Kurdistan region, has in recent years voiced his willingness to develop relations with India while also highlighting the capacities of the Indian labour force in the region which he says remains a “committed and professional working community”.
In February 2022, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had met the President of the regional government on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference and assured Nechirvan Barzani of India’s plans to advance capacity building in the Kurdistan Region with training programmes in health, banking systems and academic support.
“Topics of discussion also included the religious and ethnic diversity and the richness of the culture of peaceful coexistence and tolerance in India, the medical trips from the Kurdistan region to India and other topics of mutual interest,” read a statement issued by the President’s office after the meeting.
