Kuwait City: The Indian Embassy in Kuwait is planning on celebrating the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two friendly countries during 2021-2022.
“Many of you, as residents of Kuwait, are aware of the excellent relations that we maintain with Kuwait. I thought it is important to reiterate this today in my address. Similarly, for India, 2021-22 is a very important year when we celebrate the 75th anniversary of our Independence,” said Indian Ambassador, Sibi George, while addressing Indian community groups during a virtual conference.
Taking into account all the health and safety procedures due to COVID-19 pandemic, Ambassador George pointed out that they plan on hosting a series of events aimed at increasing their outreach within Kuwait and further developing Kuwait-Indian relations on a political, economic, cultural and scientific level.
In addition, the Indian Ambassador congratulated the Indian medical professionals in Kuwait who worked tirelessly since the start of the pandemic.
Ambassador George said, “I urge our medical professionals, teachers and office-bearers of various associations to continue to offer their voluntary counselling services, particularly to the vulnerable segments of our society, and help them deal with the mental stress resulting from the ongoing pandemic.”
Remittances and bilateral trade
The two countries have a shared history of joint cooperation in trade, investments and human resources.
Indian comprise is the largest expat community in Kuwait, with around 1.45 million residing in Kuwait. Indians make up 36 per cent of the population of Kuwait, estimated at four million.
In 2019, 1.9 billion Kuwaiti dinars in remittance was sent from Kuwait to India, according to a research study by the Washington Post.
For the Financial Year 2019-2020 the two countries had a bilateral trade that totalled approximately 3.2 billion Kuwaiti dinars. The two countries first signed a trade agreement back in 1974.
Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), the state’s sovereign wealth fund, has invested around 1.5 billion Kuwaiti dinars in India.
In regards to petroleum and natural gas, the sixth largest crude oil supplier to India is Kuwait.
