India, Kuwait effectively coordinate in FATF meetings, other multilateral platforms: Envoy Adarsh Swaika

By Rajinish Singh

Kuwait City [Kuwait], May 27 (ANI): India and Kuwait "very effectively coordinate" in all multilateral platforms, including the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Indian Ambassador to Kuwait Adarsh Swaika said on Tuesday.

In an interview with ANI, Swaika also talked about the visit of the all-party delegation to Kuwait to highlight India's policy of zero tolerance of terrorism in the wake of Pahalgam terror attack and said "sharing our views with our friendly partners helps in appreciating each other's concerns and sensitivities".

Swaika referred to the coordination between India and Kuwait during the FATF Plenary in Singapore last year.

"India and Kuwait very effectively coordinate in all multilateral platforms, including the FATF meetings. Last time in Singapore, we had very effective interaction and we continue to work together with all international partners, including Kuwait," Swaika told ANI here.

India intends to up terror funding against Pakistan for putting it back in the Grey List of FATF.

India will send a detailed dossier to the FATF, the global money laundering and terror financing watchdog, outlining evidence and concerns regarding the involvement of certain entities and individuals in terror financing and money laundering activities, government sources had said earlier.

The all-party delegation to Kuwait is led by BJP leader by Baijayant Jay Panda and the delegation's message of increasing scrutiny on Pakistan is getting a lot of response.

Swaika said the all-party delegation's visit will help in understanding India's concerns and sensitivities.

"Sharing our views with our friendly partners helps in appreciating each other's concerns and sensitivities. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had paid a historic visit to Kuwait in December 2024. That visit has elevated our relationship to a strategic partnership. We look forward to greater interaction between India and Kuwait. Many new things are happening, on the political side, economic, cultural side. This visit will also help in understanding our concerns and sensitivities," he said.

Swaika said the delegation had a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs of Kuwait.

"The delegation very effectively communicated India's point of view on the recent events in the Indian subcontinent, particularly the terror attack and the Operation Sindoor and underlined the new normal approach of India if there is any further escalation in this regard," the Ambassador said.

The delegation also met civil society members in Kuwait including former ministers, royal family members, editors, leading industrialists, academicians and opinion makers.

"The leader of the delegation and other members of the delegation very effectively conveyed India's point of view, conveyed to our Kuwaiti friends the rationale of why we did what we did, and how we did," Swaika said.

"The Kuwait Deputy Prime Minister appreciated sharing of information by the Indian delegation and reaching out to various countries in the world. One would be aware also that Kuwait was one of the first countries in the Gulf region to condemn the terror attack," he added.

Swaika also talked about the bilateral initiatives on trade, culture and investment.

"There are a lot of plans on the economic side. Our trade is increasing. For the first time last year, we touched USD 2 billion of exports. On the investment side we have a substantial investment from the Kuwait Investment Authority in India, and work is on to see how they can invest more in different sectors of India. On the culture side, there have been a lot of takeaways, we started the Hindi language programme in the Kuwait National Radio last year. There were translations of Mahabharata and Ramayana," he told ANI.

The all-party delegation which visited Kuwait included BJP MPs Nishikant Dubey, Phangnon Konyak, Satnam Singh Sandhu, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and former Indian diplomat Harsh Shringla. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)