NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Kuwait on Saturday, marking the first trip to the Gulf state by an Indian premier in more than four decades.

With more than 1 million Indian nationals living and working in Kuwait they are the largest expatriate community in the country, making up around 21 percent of its 4.3 million population and 30 percent of its workforce.

Modi’s two-day visit is at the invitation of the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

“This will be the first visit of an Indian prime minister to Kuwait in 43 years,” the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

“During the visit, the prime minister will hold discussions with the leadership of Kuwait. (The) prime minister will also interact with the Indian community in Kuwait.”

India is among Kuwait’s top trade partners, with bilateral trade valued at around $10.4 billion in 2023-24.

Experts expect the visit to focus on strengthening economic ties between the two countries.

“Kuwait has a strong Indian expatriate community who have contributed to the economic development of the country,” Muddassir Quamar, associate professor at the Center for West Asian Studies in Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, told Arab News.

“In my view, the focus would be on the economy. Politically, it underlines that Kuwait is an important regional country and remains an important partner of India.”

Quamar said that trade and economic ties will likely get a boost from the visit, as well as cooperation in energy, infrastructure, financial technology, education and culture.

Modi’s visit reflects how India’s engagement with Arab states has increasingly focused on the economy, said Kabir Taneja, a deputy director with the Strategic Studies program at the Observer Research Foundation.

“India’s engagement with Arab states is increasingly rooted in a ‘new’ Middle East, that is, it is economy-led,” he told Arab News.

“This visit is a good opportunity for India to expand beyond its good relations with UAE and Saudi Arabia and explore opportunities with the smaller Arab states, which includes Kuwait.”

BANGKOK: A Saudi tourist swam for more than five hours to reach shore and find help for his wife after their jet ski capsized in Pattaya Bay, Thailand, local authorities said on Thursday.

On Saturday, Abdulrahman Mahdi M. Al-Amri and his wife, Atheer Saeed A. Al-Amri, were reported missing at 6:30 p.m., prompting an immediate search and rescue operation by Pattaya City authorities.

“We received a call at 6:30 p.m. from a jet ski operator that one of their jet skis and the clients were missing. So, we set out on a search operation,” Pattaya City Sea Rescue’s Nattanon Chamnankul, who led the search and rescue mission, told Arab News.

The rescue team had been searching for more than five hours and was navigating the dark seas, strong winds and drizzle to no avail. But as their boat returned to Pattaya’s Jomtien beach, authorities found Abdulrahman swimming toward the shore.

“The husband had swum for five hours to reach the shore and was worried about his wife. He used the lights on the beach as a guide,” Chamnankul said, adding that the 26-year-old man was in a state of extreme fatigue when he was rescued.

The rescue boat then took him on board and continued the search for his wife.

“We found his wife at 2 a.m., six hours after the search began,” Chamnankul said. “At first the sea was dark, but we heard a small voice in the sea and it was her.”

Their jet ski had capsized in the middle of the ocean and its engine was damaged by seawater, according to Nipon, an officer at the Pattaya Tourist Police.

After the jet ski ran out of fuel, Abdulrahman decided to swim to shore to get help.

Although Atheer had a minor injury to her left leg, Nipon said the couple had no serious medical issues and had since returned to their home country after settling a damage cost with the jet ski operator for 50,000 Thai baht ($1,400).

Thailand has become an increasingly popular destination for Saudi travelers since the normalization of ties between the Southeast Asian country and Saudi Arabia in 2022.

The Gulf state is considered a high-potential market by Thai tourism experts, with about 178,000 Saudi tourists visiting in 2023, and another 188,000 between January and October this year, the highest number among visitors from that region.

The latest data shows that the number of Saudi tourists has almost doubled compared with 2022, when the number was about 96,000.