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Indian and Kuwaiti authorities resorted to damage control on Monday after a note from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member state cabinet expressing concern about the “attack on Indian Muslims” leaked on social media during weekend.
Kuwaiti Ambassador Jasem Ibrahem al-Najam and Foreign Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava issued separate statements highlighting the strong bilateral ties and cooperation between the two countries in the fight against Covid-19.
Srivastava also noted that the Kuwaiti government had assured India that it “did not support any interference in the internal affairs” of the country.
The note in Arabic from the Kuwaiti Cabinet, dated March 2 but leaked on Twitter on Sunday by a well-known Kuwaiti scholar, expressed concern “about the attacks against Indian Muslims” and called on the world community and the Cooperation Organization Islamic (OIC) to take steps to stop such attacks and end bloodshed.
At least two people familiar with the events confirmed the authenticity of the note from the Kuwaiti cabinet.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Srivastava noted references to India from unofficial social media in Kuwait, saying: “The Kuwaiti government has assured us that they are deeply committed to friendly relations with India. Nor do they admit to any interference in the internal affairs of India. “
Srivastava said that India recently deployed a rapid response team at Kuwait’s request to assist that country in its fight against the Coronavirus. “During their two-week stay in Kuwait, the team provided valuable medical assistance in testing and treating affected people and in training their staff,” he said.
He added: “Therefore, it is important that the friendly and cooperative nature of our relationships is accurately recognized and that the misuse of social media is not credited.”
Ambassador al-Najam said in a statement to Kuwait’s state news agency Kuna that the two countries “share many principles in their foreign policies, such as respecting the UN Charter, not interfering in other countries’ affairs and respecting the sovereignty of nations. ” .
He also said that Kuwait and India have a historical relationship and “always seek to develop them in [the] political and economic domains. “The two sides are cooperating and coordinating to intensify the fight against Covid-19 and had been waiting for a meeting of the bilateral joint committee in the first quarter of 2020, but this was postponed due to the pandemic, he said.
India has been concerned by criticism on social media about the treatment of Indian Muslims by prominent commentators and members of royal families in some West Asian states. In recent days, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar has contacted his counterparts in the GCC states and other Arab nations to discuss this issue and the well-being of Indian expatriates.
On Monday, Foreign Affairs Secretary (Indian Affairs Abroad) Sanjay Bhattacharyya held a conference call with envoys from the GCC states as a follow-up to the Jaishankar talks, people familiar with the development said.
GCC envoys thanked the Indian government for keeping food and medicine supply chains open and for helping in the evacuation of its citizens, said one of the people named above. The envoys also called for the deployment of Indian health personnel in their countries to deal with the pandemic and discussed the issue of Indian citizens wishing to return home, the person added.
