New Delhi, December 5. India and Kuwait formed a Joint Commission for Cooperation following a meeting between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and visiting Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Abdullah Ali Al Yahya.
According to a press release issued by the Ministry if External Affairs following the bilateral talks held here on Wednesday, both ministers reviewed the entire spectrum of India-Kuwait ties in areas including political, trade, investment, energy, food security and people to people ties. They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.
“The two ministers signed an MoU(memorandum of understanding) on establishing a Joint Commission for Cooperation (JCC) at the level of foreign ministers,” the press release stated. “New joint working groups in areas of trade, investment, education, technology, agriculture, security and culture, will be set up under the JCC. The JCC mechanism will act as an umbrella institutional mechanism to comprehensively review and monitor the entire gamut of our bilateral relations under the new joint working groups and the existing ones in areas including hydrocarbons, health and consular matters.”
Yahya also made a courtesy call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the course of his visit. Modi recalled the strong historical bonds between the two countries and conveyed his appreciation to the leadership of Kuwait for the welfare of over a million strong vibrant Indian community in Kuwait.
The bilateral relationship between India and Kuwait is underpinned by shared historical ties, robust economic exchanges, and growing strategic cooperation. These ties are critical not only for the two nations but also for regional stability and global economic dynamics.
Kuwait is a major supplier of crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to India, making it essential for India’s energy security. India, as one of the largest energy consumers globally, relies on a steady supply of oil, and Kuwait fulfills a significant portion of this demand. During financial year2023-24, Kuwait was the ninth largest oil supplier meeting about 3 percent of India’s total energy needs.
India has consistently been among the top trading partners of Kuwait. Total bilateral trade with Kuwait during 2023-24 was $10.47 billion. Indian exports have increased from $1.56 billion in 2022-23 to $2.1 billion in 2023-24 with year-on-year growth of 34.7 percent with the top five export items being aircraft parts, cereals, organic chemicals, vehicles and electric machinery.
Indian PSUs like TCIL, New India Assurance, LIC and Oriental Insurance have offices in Kuwait in association with local sponsors, Indian private sector companies such as Air India, L&T, Shapoorji Pallonji, Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd, TERI, WIPRO, Tata and Ashok Leyland are also present in Kuwait with local tie-ups.
Kuwait is home to an expatriate Indian population of around one million. Professionals like engineers, doctors, chartered accountants, scientists, software engineers, management consultants, architects, technicians, nurses, retail traders and businessmen are present in Kuwait, though a large proportion consists of unskilled and semi-skilled workers. The Indian business community in Kuwait has carved a niche for itself in retail as well as distributorship.
