Indian Embassy Holds ‘thank You Kuwait’ Event

                                                                                             India-Kuwait Joint Fight Against COVID-19

 

Indian Embassy organized an event last week to express gratitude to all the stakeholders from Kuwait and India who helped in the air-sea bridge set up by both the governments to ensure uninterrupted supply of emergency medical oxygen shipments from Kuwait to India.

Kuwait was among the largest contributors of medical oxygen to India and the immense contribution was both acknowledged and appreciated by the Government of India.

Ambassador of India H.E. Sibi George inaugurated the event and spoke about the strong, close and historic India-Kuwait friendship and expressed his gratitude to the Government of Kuwait, the concerned agencies, and people of Kuwait, as well as to the Indian Community in Kuwait for the assistance offered to India during the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic.

He pointed out that the Embassy received full cooperation and support from the leadership and officials of various ministries and public authorities such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Public Authority of Industry, Kuwait Port Authority, Kuwait Red Crescent, Civil Aviation, Ministry of Defence, and Customs authorities. Officers of each one of these organisations worked hard, even during the holy month of Ramadan and the very day of Eid-ul-Fitr, to ensure continuous flow of the much needed medical oxygen from Kuwait to India through the successful air-sea bridge operations.

He added that “during the course of these operations, we had six naval ships and four military aircraft from India ferrying the much-needed medical oxygen supplies and equipment from Kuwait to India; in addition, we had a Kuwaiti military aircraft and a commercial vessel arranged by the Government of State of Kuwait for carrying medical supplies to India.

The operation, which lasted for over a month and half, saw the supply of 425 metric tonnes of liquid medical oxygen, over 12,500 oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators, ventilators and other medical equipment from Kuwait to India. To quote one of the senior officials, “this operation has set a new benchmark for Kuwait’s humanitarian efforts”.

In his virtual address to the gathering, Ambassador Ali Sulaiman Al-Saeed, Assistant Foreign Minister, Asia Affairs, in Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, praised the excellent and age-old relationship between the two countries.

For his part, the Director General of the PAI, Abdulkarim Taqi, said that they were very pleased to be part of this operation and help the friendly nation of India in their hour of need. He pointed out that India was close to the heart of every Kuwaiti and the instruction from the leadership to “help your brothers” made a difficult operation easy because it came from the heart.

Speaking on the occasion, the Director General of Kuwait Ports Authority, Sheikh Yousef Abdulla Sabah Nasser Al Sabah, eloquently touched upon the historical relationship of the two countries and the exceptional people to people relationship existing between the two nations. Summarising, he said “A million Kuwaitis live in Kuwait among a million Indians in peace, harmony, cooperation and brotherhood and it has been that way for more than 50 years and it will remain that way forever.”

He thanked the Ambassador George who had spearheaded the effort and pointed out that none of this great accomplishment would have been achieved without his leadership and efforts. He also thanked the big Indian community for their support to their families and fellow citizens back home with their quick effort and support which meant Indian community of Kuwait supported India which made Kuwaitis proud. 
 

Later the Indian Ambassador accompanied by the dignitaries unveiled a memorial plaque to mark the occasion and the partnership, especially the recently concluded successful air- sea bridge operation.

An artist from the Kuwaiti Arts Association, Mahmoud Al-Qattan presented a painting capturing the historic moment when in the spirit of solidarity and friendship, Kuwait had lit up the iconic Kuwait Towers with the display of national flags of India and Kuwait.

Speeches were also made by members of the Indian community Rajpal Tyagi from Indian Community Support Group (ICSG), Kaizer Shaiker from Indian Business and Professional Council (IBPC), Dr. Sunil Yadav from Indian Doctors Forum (IDF), Peeyush Jain from IIT-IIM Alumni Association and Deepak Bindal from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

The event was an occasion to express gratitude to all the stakeholders from both the countries, including the frontline healthcare workers, scientists, business communities, airlines staff, service providers and others who kept the supply chains of essential supplies open, and all those who made immense contributions in the long and arduous struggle against the pandemic.

Dignitaries who also graced the occasion were Mr. Jamal Hadhel Al-Jalawi, Director General of Customs, Engineer Yousef Sulaiman Al Fouzan, Director General of Civil Aviation and Mr. Anwar Al-Hasawi, Deputy Chairman, Kuwait Red Crescent Society.

 

 

SOURCE  TIMESKUWAIT

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