If the diplomatic fall over the controversial comments made by the Bharatiya Janata (BJP) Spokesman Nupur Sharma, the government will be forced to ask Qatar and Kuwait to control civil and political elements using this problem to target India, officials said.
The Shura Qatar Council, the Consultative Parliament of 45 members of the country, has reiterated his request for public apologies, and departmental shops in Kuwait have begun to take Indian products from their shelves in recent days.
India has clearly stated that they do not tolerate targeted insults to any religion, and that freedom of religion is upheld by the government for all communities, but the interests in many countries want to increase this problem, officials with knowledge about the problem say.
They showed that the monarchy of the two countries, separated from the civil government, had not issued any statement against India.
Qatar and Kuwait are both semi-constitutional monarchy with hereditary emir which has significant strength in government and politics.
While 20 countries, including Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Jordan, have protested India for the comments of Sharma, Qatar and Kuwait’s nupur, the first to call the Indian ambassador who was placed in their country and submitted a protest record.
The first comment was made by Sharma on May 26 during the television debate about the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi. Since then, India has tried to ease the situation. On June 5, the Indian Embassy in Qatar and Kuwait kept the government away from this problem, saying “insulting comments” originated from “periphery elements” and strict actions have been taken against them.
Furthermore, BJP launched an investigation of the comments and spokespersons who were deferred by Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal, who head the party media unit in Delhi. Kuwait welcomed this step.
Bilateral bond
The Narendra Modi government has until now has a warm relationship with all bay countries, and the latest developments have influenced bilateral bonds, officials agree.
Both Qatar and Kuwait provided assistance to India in the form of medical and non-medical assistance during the peak of Pandemi Covid-19.
Indian Navy ships carry full oxygen tankers, oxygen concentrators, ventilator, and thousands of cylinders from ports in these countries.
Most of this assistance is financed by Indians based in these countries, who also help bilateral assistance.
While the United Arab Emirates acted as the foundation of Indian foreign policy in the Bay region, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs separately encouraged strong relations with each country in the region.
India Observed a Day of National Mourning on October 4 as a Mark of Respect to Kuwaiti Leader Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jabber Al-Sabah After He Passned Away in September 2020. Then Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan Had Been Dispatched to Kuwait to Offer Indian condolences.
Relationships with Qatar are also India’s focus. On that day, the protest record came from the country, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu had made an official visit to the country. Naidu has held talks for the delegation level and reviewed bilateral relations including trade, investment, and economic relations and security cooperation.
To be sure, some bilateral friction arose because many Indians were forced to return home because Qatar and Kuwait followed aggressive policies that support the domestic population.
Indians are the largest expatriate groups in Kuwait (998,000 on December 31, 2020) and Qatar (746,000 at the end of 2021), and have formed the largest part of the population there for decades.
Small but the key
Indian bilateral trade with Qatar and Kuwait is very inclined to support these countries, mainly because of large amounts of crude oil imports. Kuwait and Qatar are the 6th and 7th largest sources of crude oil for India in terms of FY22.
India’s exports to Qatar were established at $ 1.8 billion, while those to Kuwait were established at $ 1.24 billion in FY22. In both cases, food, most meat, fish and cereals form the largest part of Indian exports.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the increase in global wheat prices in the midst of shortcomings, the two countries have also tried to receive wheat from India, which last month banned shipping wheat abroad.