Ambassador Sibi George who is currently India’s Ambassador to Switzerland, Holy See (Vatican City), and the Principality of Liechtenstein has now been appointed as the next envoy to Kuwait.
Ever since he took over India’s Ambassador to Switzerland in November 2017, relations between India and Switzerland have been mutually fulfilling.
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He handled two high profile visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi (January 2018) who visited the landlocked nation to deliver the keynote address at the World Economic Forum meet in Davos and the recent state visit of President Ram Nath Kovind.
George has been the recipient of the SK Singh Award for Excellence in the Indian Foreign Service. The award was conferred upon him in 2014 when he was the Deputy Ambassador to the Royal Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He dealt with a plethora of issues surrounding consular matters. This was the same time when the Saudi government introduced the Kafala system which threatened the livelihoods of many Indian migrant workers.
It is exactly this experience in consular matters and his expertise in Middle East affairs that is now expected to help India sail through the rough patches in the turbulent West Asian region.
He has previously served in different capacities in Cairo, Tehran, Riyadh and Doha.
West Asia, like other regions of the world, will undergo a change in the post-Covid19 era and India will hope to enhance its ties with the Gulf states in a more fruitful manner.
Relations with Kuwait are at an all time high, especially after the role played by Indian diplomacy in sending the much sought after ‘Hydroxychloroquine’ tablets.
While certain communal elements threaten to upset India’s historical and civilization ties with Kuwait and other Gulf states, Kuwait has reaffirmed its ties with India.