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PRESS RELEASE Indian Foreign Minister arrives in Kuwait His Excellency Mr. S.M. Krishna, the Minister of External Affairs of India, will pay an official visit to Kuwait from 3-4 February 2010, at the invitation of His Excellency Sheikh (Dr.) Mohammed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the State of Kuwait. Accompanying the Hon’ble Minister on the special flight from New Delhi to Kuwait will be Ms. Latha Reddy, Secretary (East), and other senior officers of the External Affairs Ministry, besides a group of Indian journalists. Briefing the media, Ambassador Malhotra stressed that “such high-level visits provide the setting to reaffirm friendships and explore new avenues of cooperation”. The visit to Kuwait by Minister Krishna would be his first official visit to the Gulf region since taking over as India’s External Affairs Minister in May 2009. Minister Krishna would also return directly to New Delhi after his visit to Kuwait. Ambassador Malhotra highlighted that this special focus “reflected the close and long-standing friendship between our two countries and peoples and would serve to boost India-Kuwait ties to a qualitatively new level”. During his stay in Kuwait, Minister Krishna is due to call on His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Amir of the State of Kuwait, High Highness Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Prime Minister of the State of Kuwait, and His Excellency Sheikh (Dr.) Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al Sabah, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the State of Kuwait. Ambassador Malhotra would host a reception in honour of the Minister to enable him to meet with representatives of the 600,000 strong Indian community, which is the largest expatriate community in Kuwait. Minister Krishna would also visit the Grand Mosque and the recently outsourced Passport and Visa Service Centres of the Indian Embassy in Kuwait. Ambassador Malhotra recalled that as Governor of Maharashtra, Hon’ble S.M. Krishna was privileged to welcome and host a banquet in Mumbai in honour of His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Amir of Kuwait, during the official visit of His Highness to India in June 2006. Elaborating on the Minister’s background, Ambassador Malhotra pointed out that, as the reformist Chief Minister of Karnataka, Hon’ble S.M. Krishna presided over the impressive growth of Bangalore from 1999 to 2004, that brought it into world focus as the Silicon Valley of India. Ambassador Malhotra emphasized that “India and Kuwait enjoy traditionally close and friendly relations, based on historical linkages that have deepened and diversified over time. Geographic proximity, ancient trade ties, and cultural affinities, continue to sustain and nurture our long-standing friendship”. Kuwait is an important trading partner and India-Kuwait trade was estimated at $ 10.5 billion in 2009. Kuwait is also an important partner in Indian’s quest for energy security and Indian companies are active in the petroleum and power sectors. Briefing about recent India-Kuwait official interaction, Ambassador Malhotra recalled that the visit to Kuwait in April 2009 by the Vice President of India, Hon’ble M. Hamid Ansari, reaffirmed our close bonds of friendship. Since then, the Indian Minister of State for Tourism, Mr. Sultan Ahmed, and the Health Minister of the Indian State of Kerala had visited Kuwait in October 2009, for promoting tourism to India with a special focus on health tourism. India and Kuwait had also co-hosted a popular “Festival of India in Kuwait” in November 2009, in which 130 distinguished artistes and artisans from all over India provided a glimpse of its rich and diverse cultural heritage. Inter-Governmental Working Groups on Hydrocarbons and on Labour, Employment and Manpower Development, had also met in Kuwait in December 2009 and January 2010 respectively. Looking ahead, Ambassador Malhotra revealed that a large Kuwaiti delegation, led by His Excellency Ambassador Sheikh Ali Khalid Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Director of the Economic Department in the Kuwait Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and including members from the Kuwait Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Public Authority for Industry, and the Public Authority for Investment, would be attending the 2nd India-Arab Investments Conclave that will be held in New Delhi from 8-9 February 2010, with a view to exploring new joint business and investment opportunities in both India and Kuwait. He also mentioned that the India-Kuwait Joint Ministerial Commission for Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation was expected to meet in Kuwait next month.
Kuwait
Profile of Hon’ble S.M. Krishna Indian Minister of External Affairs
Mr. S.M. Krishna graduated from Maharaja’s College, Mysore, and got a law degree from the Government Law College, Bangalore. Later, he studied at the Southern Methodist University, Dallas, USA, and at George Washington University as a Fulbright scholar. Returning to India, he worked as Professor of International Law in Renukacharya Law College, Bangalore. He was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in 1962 and made his debut in Parliament in 1968 as a Member of the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament). He preferred to return to State Politics in 1972, when he was elected to the Legislative Council and inducted as Minister for Commerce, Industries and Parliamentary Affairs, a charge he held till 1977.
In 1980, he returned to the
Lok Sabha and was made Minister of State for Industry (1983-84) and
Minister of State for Finance (1984-85). He
was Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from 1989 to 1992,
when he was elected Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka. He
was elected to the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) in 1996 and
was its member till October 1999. Mr. Krishna was the Governor of Maharashtra from December 2004 till March 2008. He was re-elected as Member of the Rajya Sabha in June 2008. He became the External Affairs Minister on 23 May 2009.
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