IANS/New Delhi
Kuwait’s Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber al-Mubarak al-Hamad al-Sabah arrived here yesterday on a four-day state visit, the first by a Kuwaiti head of government in 10 years.
The Kuwaiti prime minister was received at the airport by Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed.
Sheikh Jaber is accompanied by a high-level delegation, including ministers, senior officials and captains of industry.
This is the first head of government-level visit from Kuwait to India since the post of crown prince and prime minister was bifurcated in 2003.
Kuwait is a major supplier of India’s energy needs with almost 10% petrol imports sourced from the Gulf country.
India-Kuwait trade has doubled in the past three years, standing at $17bn.
The visit comes at a time when both sides are planning to upgrade their ties from a buyer-seller relationship to a more strategic level, including in the fields of petrochemicals and fertilisers.
Sheikh Jaber will call on President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice-President Hamid Ansari. He will hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The Kuwaiti prime minister will also attend a business luncheon meeting jointly organised by the three business chambers – the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India - today. The Kuwaiti delegation will also visit Agra.
Indians form the largest expatriate community in Kuwait at over 700,000.