India and Kuwait enjoy friendly relations. India has been a trading partner for things such as ship building, pearl diving, fishing and voyages to India on wooden dhows carrying dates, Arabian horses and pearls that were traded for wood, cereals, clothes and spices. Kuwait makes it India's second largest supplier of oil from the GCC Countries next only to Saudi Arabia.

Relationship between Kuwait and India increased in 1962 with the appointment of Yacoub Abdulaziz al-Rasheed as the first Kuwaiti Ambassador to India. India has supported Kuwait in several hard times. During the Gulf War India was the only country to shift its embassy from Kuwait to Basra. The Demolition of Babri Masjid also impacted ties with Kuwait calling for Prime Minister Narasimha Rao to rebuild the structure and hand it over to Indain Muslims.

There have been visits between Kuwait and India, in 1965 Vice president of India Dr Zakir Husain and in 1981 Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in have led Indian visits to Kuwait while the Crown Prince and Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah in 1964 and The Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jabar Al Sabah In 2006 have led visits to India.

Indians form one of the largest expatriates communities numbering about 825,000 people. Their presence in white collar jobs have been increasing consistently especially in the electronic, industrial, architectural and engineering sectors. This show how strong is Kuwait and India Relation.

Alishba Sarwar, Grade-7B, Carmel School