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The uninterrupted supply of food and essential items from India to West Asian states and the role of energy security in the post-Covid-19 economic recovery figured in recent talks by Foreign Minister S Jaishankar with his counterparts. from various countries in the Middle East.
Negative posts on social media of false identities that went viral in some West Asian countries were also featured in these talks, and Jaishankar and his counterparts agreed that these efforts were aimed at impacting special relations between India and countries in the Middle East, people said familiar with developments. Friday.
The well-being of some 8 million Indian expatriates in the West Asian states, representing annual remittances of around $ 40 billion, also figured in the Jaishankar talks with their counterparts, including those of the Gulf Cooperation Council states. (GCC), the people named above said on condition of anonymity.
Jaishankar had telephone conversations with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Oman on Thursday and with the foreign ministers of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Palestine on Friday. He previously spoke to his counterparts in Bahrain, Kuwait and Algeria.
These conversations were a follow-up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s telephone conversations with leaders of GCC countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman and the leaders of Palestine, Jordan and Egypt. Modi’s talks emphasized “strong bilateral relations and India’s priority to” Think West “in its foreign policy,” said one of the people quoted above.
“The Gulf countries import large quantities of food and other essential items from India, and the counterparts of the foreign minister appreciated the special efforts made by us to ensure the uninterrupted supply of these items,” the person said.
“The post-Covid-19 economic recovery, particularly its energy implications, was debated as India is a key market for crude oil from West Asia,” the person added.
People said negative social media posts of fake identifications, such as the one posing as an Omani princess, had “received adverse attention” from Western Asian governments. “Both sides realize that such attempts are intended to create discord in special relations between India and countries in the region,” said the person quoted above.
Western Asian states, the people noted, are very sensitive to attempts to create social disharmony and have zero tolerance for such matters.
In the past few days, a handful of Indians have been fired from their jobs or faced legal action in the UAE over their social media posts deemed to be Islamophobic. Princess Hend Faisal al Qassemi, a member of the UAE royal family, criticized these posts on social media and emphasized India’s secular background. The Omani princess issued a clarification that she had no connection to the fake tweet from an account posing as her.
Jaishankar’s counterparts from the GCC countries appreciated the contributions made by the Indians to the growth and prosperity of those nations. “These countries have been very supportive and have gone the extra mile to care for the well-being of the Indians in these difficult times and the foreign minister expressed his deep gratitude for their efforts,” said a second person.
Many Western Asian countries have sought essential drugs such as hydroxychloroquine and acetaminophen in India to support their efforts against the Covid-19 pandemic. India has already supplied or is in the process of supplying these drugs to Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Egypt, Palestine and Saudi Arabia as humanitarian aid and on a commercial basis, the people said.
At the request of Kuwait, India deployed a rapid response team of doctors, nurses, and paramedics to train and exchange best practices with local professionals for the containment and treatment of Covid-19. India has also helped the embassies of western Asian states evacuate their citizens from different parts of the country.
Foreign ministers from some Middle Eastern countries requested that their medical staff currently in India be allowed to return, and Jaishankar assured them that this matter will be considered sympathetically, the people said.
