On December 21-22, 2024, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi paid the first official visit to Kuwait at the invitation of His Highness Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. In their meeting with Japanese leaders, they considered ways to improve bilateral relations and reached a consensus to upgrade cooperation to a “Strategic Partnership”.
The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has made his state visit to the Kuwait at the invitation of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. He spoke at the inauguration ceremony of the 26th Arabian Gulf Cup in Kuwait which he visited for the first time on December 21, 2024.
Bilateral Relations
Prime Minister Modi and the Amir of Kuwait have talked about taking the India-Kuwait relation to the new heights of “Strategic Partnership”. The discussions were also held on trade and investment relations, counter-terrorism, security cooperation and, Indian expatriate community in Kuwait. Strengthening regional and international cooperation was another worrying point that both sides pointed to cooperation in multilateral mechanisms such as the UN and the GCC.
MoU on Defence Cooperation
India and Kuwait have recently come to ink an MoU tio formalise the defence cooperation between the two countries. These include; training, exchange of personnel and experts, collaborative research and development, offence industry, and joint supply of defence equipment. It will also enhance the defense cooperation relationship between the two countries even further.
Seven Years Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP) with China for the years (2025-2029)
In order to strengthen cultural relations between India and Kuwait, a Cultural Exchange Programme has been launched. The CEP will support the exchange in the territory of arts, music, dance, literature and theater. It will also provide for the role of identifying and conserving cultural assets and the undertaking of other chores such as conducting research work, and the formulation and implementation of cultural fairs over the coming five years.
Vision: Developing an Executive Programme for Sports Cooperation (2025-2028).
The Executive Programme is designed to enhance cooperation in the sphere of sports to a greater level. It will foster the exchange of the leaders in sports, Membership in programmes and projects, sharing of expertise in sports medicine, management, and science all of which will improve the bilateral sports relations between the two countries.
Country Report for Kuwait: The State’s Membership in International Solar Alliance (ISA)
Kuwait is part of the International Solar Alliance which is an effort on solar energy use. The ISA is committed to strategies that seek to deal with issues of scale in relation to solar development and supports member countries in their effort to develop low-carbon development plans. Consequently, membership in Kuwait add to its commitment for sustainable energy.
Award Presentation
The Prime Minister of India Mr Narendra Modi received the Kuwait’s highest honor The Order of Mubarak Al-Kabeer from His Highness Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Amir of Kuwait. It was also presided over by the Prime Minister of Kuwait, His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Al-Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.
Conclusion
Kuwait’s relation with India gets closer after the recent visit of Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi to Kuwait. Thus, the new format of the strategic partnership in question will presuppose further cooperation across almost all the spheres, which in its turn will encourage development of bilateral relations and help stabilize the situation in the region.
