Jaishankar meets counterparts from Kuwait, Bahrain during NAM Summit

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday met with his counterparts from Kuwait and Bahrain on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit. The 18th NAM Summit commenced on Friday, bringing together the heads of 120 member countries. India is a founding member of NAM, which is one of the largest gatherings of world leaders.

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EAM Jaishankar meets counterparts from Kuwait and Bahrain

"Cordial meeting with FM of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah. Deeply value our historical friendship and the strong bilateral relations," Jaishankar tweeted.

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Kuwait has been an important trading partner for India. In 2017-18, Kuwait was the ninth largest oil supplier to India and it meets about 4.63 per cent of India's energy needs. According to the Indian Embassy in Kuwait, India nationals legally residing in the oil-rich country has crossed the eight lakh mark. There are about 24,000 Indians working for the Kuwaiti government in various jobs like nurses, engineers in national oil companies and a few scientists. In another tweet, Jaishankar said, said: 

"Great to see FM of Bahrain. Warm as always."

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India and Bahrain enjoy excellent bilateral relations characterised by cordial political, economic and cultural contacts. According to the Indian Embassy in Bahrain, there are around 350,000 Indian nationals residing in the kingdom.

18th NAM summit

The 18th summit of NAM (Non-Aligned Movement) kicked off in Baku, Azerbaijan on October 25, bringing together leaders from different countries. The summit was inaugurated by Azerbaijan's President, Ilham Aliyev, who called for the strengthening cooperation among the 120 member nations. The 18th session of the NAM summit was attended by world leaders such as Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bakir Izetbegovic, Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Pakistani President Arif Alvi, Indian Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu, Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Mustafa al-Sarraj, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Djibouti President Ismail Omar, Ghanaian President Nana Akufo- Addo alongside Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohammed.

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