Sheikh Dr Ahmed Al Sabah – Indians share with us our bread and butter
Perhaps the shortest ever official trip by the Foreign Minister of Kuwait, the visit of Dr Sheikh Ahmed Nasser al-Mohammed al-Sabah, to New Delhi last evening, carried a significant import and is seen as a reaffirmation of the historic close ties between the two countries and their commitment towards world peace and stability.
According to Ministry of External Affairs, the Minister arrived on Wednesday at 5.30 pm and held breakfast meeting with his counterpart S Jaishankar at Hyderabad House before emplaning on his journey at 11 am on Thursday.
The Foreign minister on arrival said that his country looks to India and the international community to help revive the peace process between Palestinians and Israelis as allowing the matter to linger further could jeopardise any potential for progress.
The Kuwaiti minister described the Abraham Accords signed by Israel and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members such as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as sovereign decisions by countries regarding the conduct of foreign relations.
Sheikh Dr Ahmed Al Sabah said the peace process between Israel and Palestine needs support of the International community including India as well . He added now it is the opportune time to revive the peace process between the Palestinians and the Israelis. We think that if we leave the peace process to linger even further…it might jeopardise any potential for it to see the light of day.
The contentious issue, Dr Sabah said issue has taken a long time and has produced a lot of bloodshed, violence and tragedy, but most importantly, despair in the region and among the Palestinians. “We are with the peace process and the potential of reviving the peace process is very important to bring back hope for all those affected,”.
Talks with Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar on Thursday focussed on institutionalising the wide-ranging cooperation between Kuwait and India and creating a framework to help both sides move forward in an objective manner in areas such as food security, energy, trade and investment.
Kuwait lauds India for standing in its “darkest moments and in our direst time”, fpor providing medical assistance during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic last year. He singled out the “white army of Indian nationals” – or nurses and doctors – who were combating Covid-19 alongside Kuwaitis.
“Even when there was a total lockdown in India, the Indian leadership sent medical assistance to Kuwait and this was very much appreciated,” he said.
India deployed a medical rapid response team to Kuwait last April to help in testing and treating infected people.
Kuwait’s population of 4.5 million includes 1.45 million Kuwaitis and almost 900,000 Indians, he noted. “They [Indians] share with us our bread and butter. They have contributed very much and are still contributing in our development and strengthening our cooperation,” he said.
By S A H Rizvi
The Times Kuwait
Chief of Bureau, New Delhi
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