PM Modi Meets 101-Year-Old Former IFS Officer Mangal Sain Handa During Kuwait Visit
Kuwait City, 21st December 2024: During his two-day visit to Kuwait, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met 101-year-old former Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer Mangal Sain Handa, fulfilling a request from Handa’s granddaughter, Shreya Juneja, made on social media.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. PM Modi said he came here specifically to meet him. We are thankful to him,” said Mangal’s son, Dilip Handa, in a conversation with ANI.
On Friday, Shreya Juneja posted a message on social media asking Prime Minister Modi to meet her grandfather during his visit to Kuwait. Modi responded, expressing his intent to meet Mangal Sain Handa.
In addition to meeting Handa, Prime Minister Modi also met Abdullateef Alnesef, who had published the Ramayana and Mahabharata in Arabic, and Abdullah Baron, who translated them into Arabic. Alnesef expressed his happiness and said, “It is an honour for me. Modi is very happy with this. These books are very important, and he signed both of them.”
Modi’s visit to Kuwait is the first by an Indian Prime Minister in 43 years. Invited by Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Amir of Kuwait, Modi arrived in the West Asian nation to strengthen ties between India and Kuwait in various sectors.
