KUWAIT: The following is a report highlighting major events related to Kuwait’s foreign policy throughout 2021:
Jan 4: Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah announces an agreement to open land and air borders between Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Jan 10: Committee for POWs and the missing of the Foreign Ministry announces the identification, through DNA tests, of remains of 13 Kuwaiti martyrs in Iraq.
Feb 8: Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr Ahmad Al-Nasser, addressing an extraordinary ministerial meeting of the Arab league, reiterated Kuwait’s firm and principled stance regarding the Palestinian issue, including the two-state solution; an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital on the basis of the June 4, 1967 borders.
March 1: Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr Ahmad Al-Nasser, addressing a donor conference, announces a $20 million contribution from KFAED to Yemen over a two-year period.
March 3: The Foreign Ministry identifies remains of eight POWs and people who went missing during the 1990 Iraqi invasion.
March 28: The Foreign Ministry receives the third batch of properties and archive material stolen during the 1990 Iraqi invasion.
March 30: Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr Ahmad Al-Nasser, addressing a Brussels conference on Syria, indicates that the $300 million contribution over three-year period (2019-2021) is appropriately processed.
March 30: Foreign Ministry announces handing the remains of an Iraqi person, who was missing in the Kuwaiti island of Boubyan in February, to the Iraqi side.
April 1: Kuwait opens a health center in Tunisia to provide medical services to more than 6,000 people.
April 8: Minister Sheikh Dr Ahmad Al-Sabah co-chairs a meeting of the Turkey-Kuwait Joint Committee for Cooperation in Ankara.
April 13: Kuwait’s permanent delegate to the UN-Geneva Jamal Al-Ghunaim becomes member of the World Health Organization’s Al-Sumait prize board.
May 10: Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Sabah signs memorandum of understanding with Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation Arancha Gonzalez Laya to strengthen political dialogue, boost economic relations and strengthen scientific cooperation.
May 11: Kuwait Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Sabah takes part in the Arab League extraordinary virtual session.
May 16: Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Sabah chairs Kuwait’s delegation to the virtual emergency meeting of the Executive Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to discuss developments in Palestine.
May 20: Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Sabah participates in a joint session held between UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Arab countries participating in the 75th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York.
June 6: Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Sabah heads the Kuwaiti delegation to the first meeting of the Kuwaiti-Saudi Coordination Council, hosted by Saudi Arabia, resulting in a number of agreements and MoUs in diverse fields particularly economy and trade.
June 15: Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Sabah heads the Kuwaiti delegation to an Arab Foreign Ministers’ meeting that addressed the file of Ethiopian Renaissance Dam at the request of Egypt and Sudan.
June 15: Kuwait is elected to the Independent Presidency Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and represents the Near East and North Africa Group for the fifth time.
June 16: Kuwait’s Foreign Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Dr Ahmad Al-Sabah heads the Kuwaiti delegation to the 148th GCC ministerial meeting, held at the GCC General Secretariat headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
June 28: Kuwait’s Foreign Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Dr Ahmad Al-Sabah heads the Kuwaiti delegation to the ministerial meeting of the international coalition combating so-called Islamic State (IS) which was held in the Italian capital, Rome.
July 11: The Foreign Ministry announced identities of 10 Kuwaiti martyrs who were killed by the Iraqi regime and identified by DNA testing.
Aug 5: Representative of His Highness the Amir, Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr Ahmad Al-Sabah participates in the inauguration ceremony of Iranian president-elect Ibrahim Raisi in Tehran.
Aug 22: The foreign ministry, acting upon His Highness the Amir’s instructions, facilitates the transfer of 5,000 Afghans to the US via Kuwait.
Sept 3: Kuwait and Tonga sign a declaration to establish diplomatic relations.
Sept 20: Kuwait chairs the 65th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency for the first time since joining the organization.
Sept 25: Representative of His Highness the Amir, His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah delivers a speech before the UN General Assembly dealing with a host of international issues including coronavirus, Palestine cause, Libya, Yemen and climate change.
Oct 30: The Foreign Ministry asks Lebanese Charge d’Affaires to leave Kuwait within 48 hours, and recalled its Ambassador in Beirut.
Nov 2: His Highness the Prime Minister, representing His Highness the Amir at the UN climate summit in Glasgow, calls for collaboration of efforts to address global warming.
Nov 18: The foreign ministry announces the identity of 18 prisoners and missing Kuwaitis, who were discovered in mass graves in Iraq. — KUNA