PM Modi will go on two-day visit to Kuwait on a two-day visit; Visiting after 43 years

PM Narendra Modi will be visiting Kuwait on 21 and 22 December. This will be the Indian Prime Minister's visit to Kuwait after 43 years. PM is going there at the invitation of Kuwait's Amir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

Just three months ago, PM Modi met the Crown Prince of Kuwait in New York, while before that a bilateral meeting was also held between the foreign ministers of the two countries.

After that, Kuwait's Foreign Minister Abdullah Ali Al-Yahya visited New Delhi in the first week of December. This visit is an attempt to send a message about how serious India is about its relations with this country which has a huge reserve of energy resources.

During this visit of PM Modi, some important agreements are likely to be made in energy relations as well as other strategic areas. The Ministry of External Affairs has said that 'PM Modi will hold a bilateral meeting with the PM of Kuwait during this visit and apart from this, he will also address the Indian community. India and Kuwait have had historic friendly relations. A large community of Indians lives in Kuwait. They have an important contribution in building Kuwait.'

Till the year 1961, only the Indian rupee was in circulation in Kuwait. When Iraq attacked Kuwait in the year 1990, India did not openly oppose it. This led to tension between the two countries.

This is the reason why no Indian PM has gone there in more than four decades. Vice-President Hamid Ansari paid a visit to Kuwait in the year 2009 when the Kuwaiti Prime Minister came to India in the year 2013.

India, in recent years, has started strengthening its relations with all the West Asian countries. PM Modi has visited many countries in this regard. He has visited the UAE seven times, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar twice each. Apart from this, he has also visited Bahrain and Oman.

With his visit to Kuwait, PM Modi will become the first Indian Prime Minister who has visited all the Gulf Arab countries. The situation related to West Asia will be also discussed during Modi's visit to Kuwait. Very recently, a joint working group on cooperation in areas like trade, investment, and technology between the two countries is formed. This too will be reviewed during PM Modi's visit.