Very soon, Kuwait's National Day and Liberation Day are coming up, and what better way to honour this country than to talk about the prospering relations between our motherland and Kuwait.

Relationships between countries are, very usually, symbiotic, in that both benefit from being connected to each other. The relationship between India and Kuwait is the perfect definition of such an inter-country relationship. Think about it, there are about 6 to 7 lakh Indians in Kuwait!

Indians come to Kuwait every year, mainly for job opportunities, and no matter where we go in Kuwait, we can always find a friendly Indian among the crowds. Many of us Indians have lived a great number of years in Kuwait, ranging from 5 to perhaps 50.

Since 1962, India and Kuwait have had diplomatic ties, with the appointment of the first Kuwaiti Ambassador to India, Yacoub Abdulaziz al-Rasheed. Subsequent visits of high officials of Kuwait to India and vice versa have only strengthened these ties.

Did you know that until 1961, Indian rupee was the currency used in Kuwait?

When Kuwait became a fully independent country, India was one of the earliest countries to recognize it and when India was fighting China in 1962, Kuwait was one of the first countries to lend India its support.

But even before, millennia ago, trade between India and Kuwait existed, evident by the artifacts unearthed on Failaka Island. The island itself was used frequently by ships going to and forth India and Mesopotamia (about modern-day Iraq, Syria and Kuwait) which just give more evidence that India and Kuwait has enjoyed good ties with each other for a long time.

In 2007, the relationships between India and Kuwait were further heightened by the visit of Indian ships INS Rajput and INS Betwa to Kuwait. In 2013, two Indian ships were again sent to Kuwait.

In June 2013, Major General Abdul Fattah Al Ali, who is Interior Assistant Undersecretary Director-General of Traffic Department, said that the Indian community in Kuwait was, and I quote, "a brilliant and the least problematic expatriate community which works for the overall development of Kuwait."

India and Kuwait have a multitude of agreements in different fields like culture and economics, along with scientific, technological and medical cooperation. Our uncountable number of Indian schools itself in Kuwait is a symbol of the ever-growing connection between the two countries.

Although relations between the two countries were sometimes slightly strained, as relationships are wont to do, when there was many requests for the dismissal of Hindu employees from Kuwaiti firms and shutting down of shops as an act of protest against India, the Government of Kuwait swiftly acted against them.

From all this, we can easily come to the conclusion that the Indo-Kuwait relations go very deep and very long back and that both India and Kuwait will work hard to overcome obstacles to mark notch after notch in this growing alliance.

I feel myself very lucky to have been able to live and study in Kuwait. I will never forget my childhood experience here. May this wonderful relation increase to greater heights and I wish all of you a happy National and Liberation Day!

References: Wikipedia, www.dajiworld.com, www.da.gov.kw

On this.occasion of the National Day and Liberation Day, I consider myself privileged, to get this opportunity to pay respects to this country, that I call Home.

Disclaimer: Statements and opinions expressed in the article are those of the authors and written by them; the author is solely responsible for the content in this article. IndiansinKuwait.com does not hold any responsibility for them.

Sandra Santhosh, IIK Young Reporter