New Delhi [India], December 4 : External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during his meeting with Kuwait counterpart, Abdullah Ali Al-Yahya today in the national capital, lauded the cooperation between the nations and affirmed commitment to strengthen it further.
During the bilateral meeting, Jaishankar congratulated Kuwait on its successful leadership of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and also highlighted areas of cooperation between the two countries and thanked his counterpart for taking care of the Indian community in Kuwait.
"Our two countries, enjoy long-standing friendship, and in our case, centuries old. We are committed to strengthening our bilateral ties across various domains, including trade, investment, energy, IT, cultural, and consular", he said.
He brought to attention that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent meeting with the Grand Prince of Kuwait on the margins of the UN General Assembly, which "imparted a fresh momentum in our bilateral relations."
"The fact that we are meeting twice in the space of four months also says something about our commitment, really, to take the relationship to a higher level," he added.
Reflecting on India's vision of 'Viksit Bharat' and Kuwait's Vision 2035, the Foreign Minister said that it provides both countries to work and refashion their relationship.
"Our vision for 2047, which is 100 years of our independence, which we call Viksit Bharat, developed Bharat, and Kuwait's Vision 2035, provides us both with higher aspirations for which we would be working and refashioning our relationship," he said.
Jaishankar expressed confidence in the India-Kuwait ties and said, "We hope that the volume and quality of our interactions reflect that higher vision where we want to go".
He also thanked Kuwait for taking care of the Indian community during good times as well as during COVID.
In a significant announcement, EAM said that the two countries concluded an MOU on the Joint Commission for our Cooperation which will "expand our joint working groups so that it reflects the entirety of our relationship,"
He said that the two countries discussed views on the regional and international situation. Jaishankar said that the "situation in West Asia is a matter of very deep concern".
Jaishankar congratulated Kuwait on its successful holding of the GCC Summit this week and looked forward to its support and leadership in strengthening India's relations with GCC.
Kuwait's Foreign Minister, Abdullah Ali Al-Yahya, is on a state visit to India at the invitation of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. This is the first official visit of Abudullah Ali Al-Yahya as the Foreign Minister of Kuwait to India.