India-Yemen Relations

The Indian mission in Sana’a was established in 1970. The visit of President Saleh to India in March 1983 to attend the Non-aligned summit and that of President Zail Singh to YAR and PDRY in October 1984 energised the relationship. In February 1993, official talks led to signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on periodical Foreign Office consultations between the Ministry of External Affairs of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Yemen. Foreign office consultations are now an on-going process and the latest consultations were held in New Delhi in January 2005.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh, while on his way to Japan, made a stop over at New Delhi on 13th March 1999 and held wide ranging talks with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on regional, bilateral and international issues.

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Mr. Mohammed Al-KhademAl-Wajeeh,Yemeni Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources led an oil and gas delegation to India in June, 1999. During January, 2001, he again led the Yemen LNG’s delegation to India to hold discussions In January, 2001 Minister for the Affairs of Expatriates’ Dr. Ahmed Ali Al-Beshari paid a visit to India and held discussions with the people of Yemeni origin in Hyderabad on 26th January, 2001.

A Yemeni Parliamentary delegation led by Speaker H.E. Sheikh Abdullah bin Husain Al-Ahmar visited India from 26.4.2001 to 2.5.2001.

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To take part in the 10th anniversary of the unification of Yemen, Smt. Vasundhara Raje, the then Minister of State (Independent charge) for Small Scale Industries, Agro and Rural Industries, Personnel & Pensions, paid a visit to Sana’a from 21st to 25th May, 2000.

At the invitation of Yemeni Foreign Minister, Minister of State for External Affairs, Shri E. Ahamed paid a two-day official visit to Yemen in February, 2005. During his stay in Yemen, he called on President Saleh, Prime Minister Bajammal and Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al-Qirbi and discussed a number of issues of mutual interest.

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Political Relations : The foreign policies of India and Yemen have much in common. Both are committed to non-alignment and provide support for Arab issues and to the Palestinian cause. Yemen is also a member of the Indian Ocean Rim - Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) and has participated in its meetings. The two countries have been cooperating in the international fora.

Economic and Commercial Relations: In order to give a boost to the economic and commercial relations, an agreement for setting up a Joint Committee for Economic and Technical Co-operation was signed in April 1993. So far, five JCMs have been held, the last one being in January 2005, at which both sides agreed to intensify the co-operation in various fields with a special focus mainly on the energy sector.

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Main Items of Indian Exports: Tea, rice, wheat, other cereals, poultry, spices, tobacco, meat and meat preparations, pharmaceuticals, hand tools, chemicals, pipes, etc.

Main Items of imports by India from Yemen: Crude oil, scrap, hides and skins and limestone.

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Aden Free Zone: The Government of Yemen is developing Aden as Free Zone. Aden Container Terminal is being enlarged & equipped with modern facilities. Phase-I of Aden Container Terminal, which is designed to handle an annual turn-over of 750,000 TEUs (500,000 TEUs achieved), has been completed. There are opportunities for investment in industries, manufacturing, packing, shipping, etc. for Indian companies in Aden Free Zone. Many of the proposed products in Aden Free Zone are export-oriented.

Telecommunications : TCIL has been active in Yemen since 1979 and has executed a number of telecommunication projects.

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Oil, Gas and Minerals: Since 1993 Indian companies such as Indian Oil Corporation, ONGC, Reliance, Tatas, GAIL, BPCL, NTPC etc have been active on the oil and gas sector in Yemen.

Indian companies have also shown interest in the mineral sector in Yemen in areas such as limestone quarrying.

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Future cooperation : The Government of Yemen are aware of Indian capabilities and are keen on seeing a greater interaction between the two countries. Specific avenues for cooperation are : Telecommunications, Highways and bridges, Civil engineering, Water Management and Irrigation schemes, Education, Health, Oil and Gas, Mineral exploration, Power projects etc.

There is considerable scope for collaboration in setting up small scale industries and for manufacture and marketing/export of consumer durables.

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Expatriate Indians : There are sizeable Indian and Yemeni communities in each other’s country due to historical reasons. People of Indian origin, estimated to be about 100,000 are concentrated in southern part around Aden, Mukalla and the Lahaj provinces. Similarly, there are about 100,000 descendants of Yemenis previously employed in Nizam’s forces, settled in and around Hyderabad. Almost all of them have acquired local nationality and got assimilated into the mainstream. The Gujarati community, who lived during the British time in Aden, constructed several temples. Indian expatriates in Yemen, mainly hospital personnel, professionals, academic, skilled and semi-skilled workers, are estimated about 8,000.

The Indian Embassy runs a Cultural Centre and a community school affiliated to CBSE and has classes up to 12th Standard.

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Cultural Relations : During the Third session of the Joint Committee Meeting, a cultural agreement was signed on 20th July 1999.

India provides 40 scholarships every year through ICCR to Yemeni students and 50 training slots under the ITEC programme.

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