To cater to the increasing demands of the Indian community in Kuwait, passport, visa and attestation services will be outsourced to two different agencies which will open a total of 6 embassy outsourcing centers across the Kuwait. Civil Aviation of India had already approved the request of two India-based private Airlines Indigo Airways and Go Air to start their service to Kuwait.

Indian Prime Minister gets invitation to visit Kuwait

Indian Ambassador to Kuwait His Excellency Sunil Jain briefed the media on the latest developments for the Indian community living in Kuwait. The Ambassador informed that His Highness the Amir of the State of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah had invited Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to visit Kuwait. The invitation has been delivered to Indian Prime minister and the date of his visit will be decided later. 

To strengthen the India-Kuwait relation, a joint Ministerial meeting between the two countries will be held in coming September in Kuwait. As part of the joint Ministerial meeting, Minister of State for External Affairs Shri M.J. Akbar will lead the Indian delegation and the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister will be leading the Kuwaiti delegation. Prior to the Ministerial meeting, separate joint working groups on petroleum and health will have a round of meeting to further strengthen the India-Kuwait relationship.

As Part of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) Distinguished Visitors program, former prime minister of Kuwait Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah, has been invited to visit India. The date of his visit will be declared shortly, the ambassador conveyed. The two countries are discussing to finalize the Visa waiver program for diplomatic and special passport holders of both the countries, the ambassador mentioned.

More consular centers

To cater to the increasing demands of the Indian community in Kuwait, passport, visa and attestation services will be outsourced to two different agencies which will open a total of 6 embassy outsourcing centers across the Kuwait, the ambassador said. Currently, the outsourcing center CKGS, has three centers, one each in Abbsaiya, Kuwait City, and Fahaheel.

As per the new system, Indian Embassy will outsource attestation services also to the outsourcing centers. This will address the problem of long queues at the Embassy, said the ambassador. 

As per the official statistics, last year the Indian Embassy had issued 96,000 passports and 14,000 visas from Kuwait. The Embassy also attested 95,000 documents last year. At present, the embassy is issuing visa and passport within the same day of receiving the application at Embassy from the outsourcing centers. 

"We are the number one in terms of speed and service among the other embassies in the Gulf", Ambassador said. 

More flights to India as new players enter the market

Civil Aviation of India had approved the request of two India-based private Airlines Indigo Airways and Go Air to start their service to Kuwait. This will give a great relief to the air connectivity problem of a large number of Indian community living in Kuwait, the ambassador said. Air India and Kuwait Airways are also working towards a code sharing program, which will help the affected passengers. 

As part of the International day of Yoga, the Indian Embassy will observe a curtain raiser event on April 21st at the Ahmadi Garden. To respect the Holi Month of Ramadan, Embassy will be observing International Day of Yoga on June 17th.

News Source: IIK