Blitz Bureau
PRIME Minister Narendra Modi could soon visit Kuwait in what would be the first visit by an Indian PM in more than 43 years to the key West Asian country, which also holds the presidency of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Abdullah Ali Al-Yahya who was in New Delhi recently had met PM Modi and extended an invitation to him from the Kuwait leadership to visit the country “at the earliest opportunity” which the PM had graciously accepted.
During his visit, Al-Yahya held the delegation-level talks with External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar and called India as a “very important partner” and Prime Minister Modi as “one of the wisest persons” in the world.
Kuwait remains the only GCC member country – also comprising the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar – that PM Modi has not visited so far since assuming office in 2014. A proposed visit in 2022 was postponed due to the Covid pandemic.
In September, PM Modi met with Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad AlMubarak Al-Sabah, Crown Prince of the State of Kuwait, on the sidelines of the 79th session of the UNGA in New York in what was the first meeting between the two leaders.
Recalling the strong historical ties and people-to-people linkages between the two countries during the meeting, Prime Minister Modi had conveyed that India attaches “utmost importance” to its bilateral relations with Kuwait. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) later said that the meeting between the leadership of the two countries is expected to impart a “fresh momentum” to bilateral ties between India and Kuwait.
