Kuwait, India to seal deals
KUWAIT: Kuwait and India are expected to sign several cooperation agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoU) today in sectors such as health, labor, education and oil and gas after the Kuwait-India Joint Commission meeting. India’s Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar, who arrived here yesterday heading a high-ranking delegation, said he is looking forward to a fruitful outcome of the meetings that will further broaden and strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries.
“Today’s meetings will clear the path for broadening the historically deep-rooted India-Kuwait relations further,” the minister said while addressing the Indian community at the Indian Embassy yesterday. The joint commission meeting is important for both countries as a ministerial level meeting of the commission is taking place after a gap of nine years.
Painting a rosy picture of the Indian economy, Akbar said the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a vision to help the poor and eradicate poverty out of the country. However, the minister declined to respond to queries from the media and the community members on issues pertaining to the expatriate community in Kuwait.
The visiting minister is scheduled to meet Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Khaled Al-Jarallah and Finance Minister Anas Khaled Al-Saleh separately today. Akbar will also meet the Minister of Social Affairs and Labor and Minister of State for Economic Affairs Hind Al-Sabeeh.
The preparatory meetings were held on Monday prior to the arrival of the minister with Undersecretary of Ministry of Finance Khalifa M Hamada leading the Kuwaiti delegation and Indian Ambassador Sunil Jain leading the Indian side. The commission’s working groups held separate technical sessions on a wide range of subjects exploring possibilities of cooperation in the fields of commerce, private sector, investment and capital market.
They also discussed means of expanding cooperation in aviation sector with an eye on boosting Indian partnership with Kuwait Airways. Discussions were also held on bolstering cooperation in the fields of oil and gas sector, health, sports, information technology, culture, education, higher education and scientific research.