His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabahs to visit India Thursday His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah is due in India Thursday part of a tour that also takes him to neighboring Pakistan, and he is set to discuss and seek to deepen relations with the two nations.This is the first visit by a Kuwaiti head of government to India since 2003, though the two countries have time-honored relations that are in many fields, with both sides keen on furthering interaction and exchange.His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabahs visit to India is important because it is the first head of government-level visit to India, Indian Ambassador in Kuwait Satish C Mehta said, Wednesday.His Highness Sheikh Jaber, accompanied by a high-level delegation of ministers, senior officials, and businessmen, would be visiting India on November 7-10 at the invitation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.This is the first Head of Government-level visit from Kuwait to India, said Ambassador Mehta, who noted that the last Indian head of government to visit Kuwait was then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, in 1981.Mehta said that His Highness Sheikh Jaber would meet with President Shri Pranab Mukherjee and Vice-President Shri Hamid Ansari. He will hold bilateral talks with Singh.The Kuwaiti Prime Minister, who would be visiting Agra, would also meet with Ministers of Finance, External Affairs, and Commerce and Industry.His Highness Sheikh Jaber, said Mehta, would also attend a business luncheon meeting jointly organised by the three business chambers: the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).India and Kuwait historically share friendly relations based on close people-to-people contacts. Geographic proximity, historical trade links, cultural affinities, and growing cooperation in key areas of mutual interest, including interalia energy security, trade and investment, infrastructure development projects, petrochemicals, and education continue to strengthen and broaden this longstanding relationship, he said.The two countries are among each others major trading partners, he added.Ambassador Mehta said Kuwait has been Indias fourth largest crude oil supplier globally with bilateral trade in excess of USD 17 billion in 2012-13.Both countries are exploring enhanced cooperation in energy and other sectors through mutually beneficial investments in projects including in oil exploration, refineries, petrochemical complexes, and fertilizer plants, he said.Indians form the largest expatriate community in Kuwait and their positive contribution in the progress and development of their host country is well recognized, noted Mehta in reference to over 700,000 Indian nationals working in Kuwait.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Nov 2013 04:41:02 +0000
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