POLITICAL

EGYPT

Prime Minister Modi expected to visit Egypt, meet President el-Sisi: Envoy

New Delhi, Tuesday, 28 August 2018

Prime Minister Modi is expected to visit Egypt, that country’s envoy to India said on Tuesday, and asserted the warmth in ties as expressed by both the leaders exhibits there are avenues for greater bilateral cooperation. Source: The Times of India  

IRAQ

How an Iraqi election compounded India’s Iranian oil problem

New Delhi, Monday, 20 August 2018

As a result of Trump administration’s sanctions India is preparing to cut down its oil imports from Iran. Iraq’s Supreme Court on Sunday ratified the contested results of the country’s parliamentary elections. Iraq supplies more crude oil to India than any other nation. Together, Iraq and Iran supply twice the amount India gets from Saudi Arabia. A government in Baghdad supported by Hadi al-Amiri’s pro-Iranian bloc gives India few options but to continue its relations with Iran. Source: The Times of India  

ISRAEL

India-Israel missile defence system to be procured by Israeli Navy 

Jerusalem, Thursday, 16 August 2018

The multi-purpose Barak 8 missile defence system, jointly developed by India and Israel will be procured by the Israeli Navy to protect its economic zones and strategic facilities from diversified threats and the sales for it have exceeded US5billion, a top Israeli aerospace company official has said. Source: The Times of India

KUWAIT

Kuwait plans domestic labour pact with India

Cairo, Thursday, 2 August 2018

Kuwait plans pacts with four Asian countries to recruit domestic labour under clear regulations, Minister of Social Affairs and State for Economic Affairs Hend Al Sabeeh has said. The move comes amid a reported dispute over rules for employing domestic helpers from the Philippines. Al Sabeeh named India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as the other three countries. Source: Gulf News  

MOROCCO

Morocco-India Social Register Program Aims to Reduce Inequality

Rabat, Tuesday, 28 August 2018

Morocco and India launched the India-Morocco Social Register cooperation on Monday, 27 August. The memorandum is expected to cement their institutional ties, with the goal of using common digital tools to identify and meet the needs of their respective populations. Source: Morocco World News  

Revised India-Morocco air services pact gets Cabinet nod

New Delhi, Wednesday, 29 August 2018

The Union Cabinet approved the revised air services agreement with Morocco, whereby carriers from the two countries can operate unlimited number of flights from select cities. Airlines from both countries can enter into code sharing agreements. Source: The Times of India  

QATAR

Kerala Floods: After UAE, Qatar Lends Helping Hand with $5 Million for God's Own Country

New Delhi, Sunday, 19 August 2018

 The devastating floods in Kerala have not been a cause of concern for India, but for several Middle Eastern countries as well. After the UAE announced financial help citing contribution of Kerala residents in country's 'success story', Qatar has now declared an assistance of US$5 million for the flood-hit people. Source: New18

SAUDI ARABIA

Over 1.28 lakh Indian pilgrims reach Saudi Arabia for Hajj

Jeddah, Saturday, 18 August 2018

Over 128,000 Indian pilgrims have reached Saudi Arabia to perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage, officials said. Most of them Indian pilgrims are facilitated by the government through the Hajj Committee. Source: The Times of India  

SYRIA

Syrian ambassador invites Indian companies to rebuild war-torn country

New Delhi, Wednesday, 1 August 2018

Syrian ambassador to India on Wednesday invited Indian companies, investors and businesses to help rebuild his war-torn country. “Syria was able to defeat terrorists and all the conspiracies against Syria. Now we are planning to rebuild Syria and we are looking for help from our friends especially India,” Riad Abbas said. Source: The Times of India  

UAE

UAE launches visa amnesty programme, hundreds of Indian workers to benefit 

Dubai/New Delhi, Wednesday, 1 August 2018

The UAE on Wednesday launched a landmark three-month visa amnesty programme which will benefit hundreds of illegal foreign workers, including Indians, overstaying their permits by allowing them to leave the country without penalties and giving them six months to find a job. The UAE is home to 2.8 million Indian expatriates, the largest expatriate community in the country. Source: Deccan Chronicle  

UAE aid: Delhi rules it out, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan says not any other nation

New Delhi, Thursday, 23 August 2018

Reacting to UAE offer to provide Rs.700 crore as flood relief for Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, said the UAE “cannot be considered as any other nation, as their rulers have underlined. Indians, especially Keralites, have contributed immensely in their nation-building.” Source: Indian Express  

ECONOMIC

EGYPT

Egypt, India cooperate in maritime cable domain

Cairo, Monday, 6 August 2018

Telecom Egypt signed on Monday with India's Airtel Company a MoU to enhance cooperation in the maritime cable domain. As per the memo, the Indian company will get IRUs (Indefeasible Right of Use) on Middle East, North Africa Submarine Cable and TE North Cable Systems, Telecom Egypt said in a statement. In addition, Airtel will also take large capacities on a long-term basis on two new hi-tech Cable Systems (SMW5 & AAE1). The memo will enable Airtel to further diversify its global network to meet growing demands on data services, particularly in emerging markets across South Asia, Africa and Middle East. Source: Egypt Today  

ISRAEL

India could be in top 5 source markets for Israel in 3 years: Official

New Delhi, Thursday, 30 August 2018

India could be one of the top five source markets for arrivals to Israel in the next three years, a senior Israeli tourism ministry official said today. It had seen around 58,000 arrivals from India in 2017. “India could be in the top five markets for Israel in next two to three years. From Asia, India currently is the number two market,” Israel Ministry of Tourism. Source: The Times of India

KUWAIT

Number of Indian workers in Kuwait dropped from 70,765 in 2015 to 38,871 in 2017

New Delhi, Sunday, 5 August 2018

There has been significant drop in the number of Indian workers in Kuwait between 2015 and 2017 but there is no such scale down in other Gulf countries, official sources said here. According to sources in the Ministry of External Affairs, the number of Indian workers came down from 70,765 in 2015 to 38,871 in 2017. Source: Indian Express

Kuwait rule hits Indian engineers

Riyadh, Sunday, 5 August 2018

The fate of scores of engineers from Telangana and the other States is hanging in balance after the Kuwait government made it mandatory for engineers to obtain a no-objection certificate from the Kuwait Society of Engineers (KSE) for renewal or issuance of residence visa and work permits. Source: Telangana Today

UAE

Job offers pour in for Indian amnesty-seekers in UAE

Abu Dhabi, Wednesday, 8 August 2018

Some large companies in the UAE have committed to employ hundreds of Indian amnesty-seekers as part of an initiative taken, an Indian diplomat said here on Wednesday. “We noticed that some of the Indian nationals [amnesty-seekers] do not want to go back home and want to look for jobs," said Navdeep Singh Suri, Indian Ambassador to the UAE, said on Wednesday. Source: Gulf News

MISCELLANEOUS

KUWAIT and UAE

IndiGo to start flights to Abu Dhabi, Kuwait

New Delhi, Friday, 24 August 2018

IndiGo will add Kuwait and Abu Dhabi to its network from October. It will fly from Chennai to Kuwait and Abu Dhabi will be linked to Calicut and Cochin. Source: The Times of India

QATAR

Qatar Airways will soon apply to launch airline in India 

Sydney, Monday, 6 August 2018

Qatar Airways will ‘soon’ move an application to launch a full-service airline in India for domestic operations, according to its chief Akbar Al Baker. He said the proposed airline would be fully financed by Qatar’s sovereign fund and would have Indians heading the board and most of its members. Source:  Times of India

As part of its editorial policy, the MEI@ND standardizes spelling and date formats to make the text uniformly accessible and stylistically consistent. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views/positions of the MEI@ND. Editor, MEI@ND: P R Kumaraswamy