Indian products taken off shelves from Kuwait supermarkets over Prophet Mohammed remarks controversy

Representational Photo

New Delhi: Amidst reports about boycott of Indian goods by some supermarket owners in Qatar, an AFP report has said that some supermarkets in Kuwait have Removed Indian Products from its shelves. The news agency reports said that the Al-Ardiya Co-Operative Society store de-shelved Indian tea and other products, packed them into trolleys, as a mark of protest against comments against Prophet Mohammed. 

In another supermarket, located outside Kuwait City, sacks of rice and spices and chilies were covered with plastic sheets, in an apparent bid to show mark of protest against Indian goods. The plastic sheets had printed signs in Arabic that said, "We have removed Indian products".

India`s trade with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman and the UAE, stood around $90 billion in 2020-21. Millions of Indians live and work in GCC countries. Prime Minister Modi in recent years has strengthened economic ties with the energy-rich nations, the top source for country`s fuel imports, as per a Reuters report.

Two officials of the BJP party --spokeswoman Nupur Sharma and expulsion of its Delhi media head Naveen Kumar Jindal -- had made remarks about the Prophet Mohammed in a TV debate show a couple of days back. Meanwhile, the BJP suspended a spokesperson and expelled another official on Sunday for hurting religious sentiments of a minority community.

With Reuters reports