PM Modi’s Kuwait trip to begin today with labour camp visit; to meet Emir

PM Modi will be accorded a ceremonial guard of honour at the Bayan Palace (Emir’s palace), following which he will hold separate meetings with the Emir and the Crown Prince. The visit will witness delegation-level talks with the Prime Minister of Kuwait as well.

PM Modi will review with the leadership of Kuwait, the entire spectrum of our bilateral relations — trade, investment, energy, culture, and people-to-people ties — and the steps that both sides need to take to further enhance them, the MEA said.

On Modi’s visit to the labour camp, Chatterjee stated, “…We have a community of around one million in Kuwait…The idea of the visit to the labour camp is to express the amount of importance the government of India attaches to our workers who are working in a foreign country…”

In June this year, around 40 Indian workers were killed after a fire broke out at an apartment in Mangaf, south of Kuwait City, which is heavily populated with migrant workers. With a million-strong diaspora and the largest expatriate community in Kuwait, Indians constitute 21 per cent of Kuwait’s population and 30 per cent of its workforce. Be it carpenters, masons, domestic workers, fabricators, drivers or even food delivery riders and courier delivery boys — Kuwait’s dependency on the Indian workforce is huge.

Kuwait is among the top trading partners of India, with bilateral trade valued at $10.47 billion in 2023-24.

It is also India’s sixth largest crude supplier, meeting three per cent of the country’s energy needs. Indian exports to Kuwait reached $2 billion for the first time, while investments by the Kuwait Investment Authority in India exceed $10 billion.

India and Kuwait have enjoyed friendly relations, with links dating back to pre-oil Kuwait when maritime trade with India was the backbone of its economy. In fact, the Indian rupee remained legal tender in Kuwait until 1961.

Recent high-level meetings the one between Prime Minister Modi and Kuwait’s Crown Prince on the sidelines of UNGA in September.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Kuwait on August 18, while his counterpart Abdullah Ali Al-Yahya visited India on December 3-4, during which he also called on PM Modi and extended an invitation from the Kuwaiti leadership.