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Impetus to ties with Kuwait

KUWAIT CITY: India’s bid to draw its Gulf neighbours as reliable partners to accelerate growth has received fresh impetus with the arrival of Vice-President Hamid Ansari in oil-rich Kuwait.

Mr. Ansari has arrived at a time when Kuwait, despite the global economic recession, is seeking India’s help to diversify its economy beyond oil. India, on its part, is looking for Kuwaiti surplus funds to power its infrastructural development, the foundation for fulfilling its ambition of joining the league of developed nations.

Official sources pointed out that the Vice-President’s visit would help in drawing precise mechanisms to promote this objective. During the visit of Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, Kuwait’s Emir, to India in 2006, both sides had identified information technology, energy, human resources development as well as trade, investment and finance as the pillars of their relationship.

Mr. Ansari’s presence in Kuwait was part of India’s larger engagement with the Gulf, the sources said. His visit has been preceded by the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Oman and gas-rich Qatar. Three Indian naval ships recently concluded their visits to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and Oman.

Soon after his arrival, Mr. Ansari held talks with Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah. He will call on the Kuwaiti Emir on Tuesday.

An official accompanying the Vice-President acknowledged that notwithstanding efforts to diversify ties, energy security remained the pivot of the Indo-Kuwait relationship. Recently, the Indian Oil Corporation renewed its contract to purchase nine million metric tonnes of crude and around 351 trillion cubic meters of gas from Kuwait.

India is now looking for investments from the Kuwait Petroleum International in the petrochemical sector, while India could participate in fertilizer projects in Kuwait. Petroleum Secretary, R.S. Pandey, who is part of the visiting delegation, began talks on Monday with his Kuwaiti counterpart to identify specific projects.

Given the importance of energy security, the safety of sea lanes used by Kuwaiti oil tankers has emerged as an area of interest. “Maritime security is of interest to both sides and will be discussed over the next two days,” said the sources. Mr. Ansari is slated to hold talks with Kuwait’s acting Prime Minister and Defence Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al Hamad Al Sabah on Tuesday. A Kuwaiti defence delegation recently visited the Air Force Academy, the National Defence College and a prominent naval establishment to explore possibilities of multi-level military exchanges with India.

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