PM Modi meets Kuwaiti Crown Prince and signs MoUs on day 2 of visit: Top points

Here are the latest updates on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Kuwait

1. In the final leg of his visit to Kuwait, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to sign an MoU to further strengthen bilateral ties between India and the Gulf state. Kuwait is India’s crucial trading partner, ranks sixth as the largest supplier of crude oil and supplies 3 percent of India’s energy needs. Later, Prime Minister Modi is likely to meet his Kuwaiti counterpart Dr Mohammed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah and make a joint statement to the media before his departure for Delhi. He is visiting Kuwait at the invitation of Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
2. On the first day of his visit, Prime Minister Modi attended the opening ceremony of the 26th Arabian Gulf Cup as the chief guest at the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium in Kuwait City on Saturday. He was accompanied by the Emir, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Kuwait as he witnessed the grand opening ceremony. The event also provided an opportunity for the Prime Minister to have an informal interaction with Kuwait’s leadership, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release.
3. 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 praised the contribution of the diaspora to global growth and said India has the potential to become the “skills capital of the world.”
4. “The relationship between India and Kuwait is one of civilization, the sea, affection, trade and commerce. India and Kuwait lie on two shores of the Arabian Sea. It is not only diplomacy that connects us, but also the ties of the heart,” the Prime Minister said to loud cheers from the crowd.
5. He also expressed happiness over the presence of Indians from different corners of the country in the Gulf state and called it a ‘mini-Hindustan’. “Hundreds of Indians come to Kuwait every year. You have added an Indian touch to Kuwaiti society. You have filled the canvas of Kuwait with the colors of Indian skills. You have blended the essence of India’s talent, technology and tradition into Kuwait,” Modi said.
6. Modi thanked the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah for his gracious invitation, stating that it was after 43 years that an Indian Prime Minister visited Kuwait to strengthen and cement the age-old friendship. The last Indian Prime Minister to visit Kuwait was Indira Gandhi in 1981.
7. Earlier after arriving, he met with a 101-year-old former Indian Foreign Service officer, two Kuwaiti nationals who translated and published the iconic epics Ramayana and Mahabharata in Arabic, and visited a labor camp with about 1,500 Indian nationals.
8. Earlier, as the first program of his visit to Kuwait, Modi visited the Gulf Spic labor 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, inquired about their welfare, and also sat with some of them when snacks were served.
9. Prime Minister Modi’s visit comes months after more than 45 Indians died in June in a devastating fire at a building housing foreign workers in southern Kuwait’s Mangaf district. “The visit to the labor camp is symbolic of the importance the Prime Minister attaches to the welfare of Indian workers abroad,” an MEA statement said.
10. Indians constitute 21 percent (1 million) of Kuwait’s total population and 30 percent of its labor force (about 9 lakhs). According to the Indian Embassy in Kuwait, Indian workers are listed as both private sector and domestic sector (DSW) workers.