A senior Indian official has discussed setting up joint venture projects with the Gulf state of Kuwait in the fields of oil refineries and petrochemicals.
K.V. Rajan, Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, told a press conference Wednesday that a joint commission formed by the two countries in 1999, would meet in the next two months to study a number of projects.
"We have not reached any agreement yet, but we have taken the first step. We discussed joint ventures in the oil upstream and downstream, refineries and petrochemicals," Rajan said after a three-day visit to Kuwait.
India expressed interest in participating in oil projects in Kuwait, while at the same time invited the oil-rich emirate to be a partner in refinery projects in India, the Indian official said.
An Indian welfare community team is due in Kuwait early next month to discuss with the authorities here steps needed to lift a year-long ban on Indian domestic helpers to the emirate, he said.
New Delhi imposed the ban last February because of ill-treatment at the hands of unscrupulous agents and after complaints to human rights organisations in India highlighted the difficulties faced by domestic workers in the emirate.
The largest expatriate community in the emirate is from India, numbering more than 285,000, followed by 274,000 Egyptians.—AFP.
©--Agence France Presse 2001.
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
