India–Libya relations

India and Libya enjoy strong bilateral ties. India established its embassy in Tripoli in 1969 and the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visited Libya in 1984. The Libyan government under Muammar Gaddafi was a member of the Non Aligned Movement and a supporter of India. Gaddafi himself had deep respect for Jawaharlal Nehru who was also the only non-Arab, non-African leader to be commemorated during the fortieth anniversary celebrations of the Libyan revolution.{{cite news|last=Haidar|first=Suhasini|title=Gunning for Libya|url=http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/suhasini-haidar-gunning-for-libya/429033/|access-date=30 December 2012|newspaper=Business Standard|date=March 19, 2011}}{{cite news|title=Why India Admired Gaddafi|url=https://thediplomat.com/indian-decade/2011/10/28/why-india-admired-gaddafi/|access-date=30 December 2012|newspaper=The Diplomat|date=October 28, 2011}}{{cite news|title=Why Pranab's Libya visit is important|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/may/30spec.htm|access-date=30 December 2012|newspaper=Rediff News|date=May 30, 2007}} In 1975, Gaddafi had praised India for India's policy of self-reliance and industrial development.{{cite book|title=Indian and Foreign Review - Volume 13 |publisher=India's policy of self - reliance and industrial development|year=1975|page=29}}

India has generally been supportive of Libya in international fora. Libya has supported India's claim for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.{{cn|date=April 2024}} India welcomed the UN Security Council resolution 1506 of 2003 that lifted sanctions imposed on Libya and there followed a series of high level visits between the two countries till the ouster of the Gaddafi regime in 2011.{{cite web|title=India-Libya Relations|url=http://www.mea.gov.in/Portal/ForeignRelation/Libya-August-2011.pdf|publisher=Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India|access-date=30 December 2012}}{{cite news|title=Gaddafi for exchanges between India, Libya at 'highest level'|url=http://www.hindu.com/2007/02/03/stories/2007020302461400.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206040112/http://www.hindu.com/2007/02/03/stories/2007020302461400.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 6, 2007|access-date=30 December 2012|newspaper=The Hindu|date=February 3, 2007}}

During the Libyan Civil War, India abstained from voting on the UN Security Council's Resolutions 1970 and 1973 that authorised NATO action in Libya.{{cite news|title=India and China had similar considerations on Libya|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1571829.ece|access-date=30 December 2012|newspaper=The Hindu|date=March 26, 2011}} In Lok Sabha, resolution was uniamously adopted to condemn NATO's military intervention in Libya.{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/parties-unite-to-slam-strikes-on-libya/articleshow/7766649.cms|title=Parties unite to slam strikes on Libya|date=23 March 2011|publisher=Times of India}} Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh had also criticized the West for the use of force to enforce regime change in a speech at the UN in September 2011.{{cite news|title=Manmohan slams West for using force to change regimes|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/manmohan-slams-west-for-using-force-to-change-regimes/articleshow/10108923.cms|date=25 September 2011|access-date=14 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025012351/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-09-25/india/30200524_1_libya-sovereignty-countries|archive-date=25 October 2012|newspaper=The Times of India}} India was silent over the killing of Gaddafi.{{cite news|title=India Quiet on Gaddafi Killing|url=https://thediplomat.com/indian-decade/2011/10/23/india-quiet-on-gaddafi-killing/|access-date=30 December 2012|newspaper=The Diplomat|date=October 23, 2011}} Although India was among the last few countries to recognise the Libyan National Transitional Council, it agreed to work with the council to help rebuild Libya.{{cite news|title=India offers all help to Libya|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/India-offers-all-help-to-Libya/articleshow/10434464.cms|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510142536/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-10-21/middle-east/30305924_1_muammar-gaddafi-libyan-people-unsc-resolution|url-status=live|archive-date=May 10, 2013|access-date=30 December 2012|newspaper=The Times of India|date=October 21, 2011}} India resent an ambassador to Tripoli in July 2012 having shut its mission in Tripoli in 2011.{{cite news|title=India and Ivory Coast Send Ambassadors to Libya|url=http://libyaninvestment.com/libya-business-news/65278-india-and-ivory-coast-send-ambassadors-to-libya.html|access-date=30 December 2012|date=3 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107032952/http://libyaninvestment.com/libya-business-news/65278-india-and-ivory-coast-send-ambassadors-to-libya.html|archive-date=7 November 2014|url-status=dead}}

Libya's former Prime Minister Ali Zidan is an alumnus of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi and a career diplomat who had served in India in the late 1970s, while the president, Mohammad Yousef Al-Magarief, was Libya's ambassador to India during 1978-81.{{cite news|title=New Libyan PM has strong India links|url=http://www.business-standard.com/generalnews/news/new-libyan-pm-has-strong-india-links/68530/|access-date=30 December 2012|newspaper=Business Standard|date=October 15, 2012}}{{cite news|title=Return of 18,000 Indians to top Ahamed's agenda in Libya|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/return-of-18000-indians-to-top-ahameds-agenda-in-libya/article4611271.ece|access-date=13 April 2013|newspaper=The Hindu|date=April 13, 2013}}

Despite Libya supporting Pakistan, relations still exist.

File:Smiling Indian Soldiers in Tobruk 1941.jpg

At the time of the Libyan Revolution, there were 18,000 Indians in Libya.{{cite news|title=Government to evacuate Indians from Libya|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/article1483165.ece|access-date=30 December 2012|newspaper=The Hindu|date=February 23, 2011}} Across Libya Indians are respected as a disciplined workforce and Indian doctors and teachers are acknowledged as the best in the country. India dispatched two naval ships the INS Mysore and INS Jalashwa to ferry Indians from Libya to Egypt and Malta after the beginning of hostilities between the rebels and Gaddafi's forces and was allowed to operate nearly 50 Air India evacuation flights from Tripoli.{{cite news|title=INS Jalashwa, Mysore set sail for Libya|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/ins-jalashwa-mysore-set-sail-for-libya/article1492904.ece|access-date=30 December 2012|newspaper=The Hindu|date=February 27, 2011}} While most of them left during the conflict, a few hundred stayed back mainly working in Libyan universities and hospitals. Following the end of hostilities in Libya and the formation of a new government there, India partially lifted its ban on emigration of Indians to Libya in June 2012.{{cite news|title=India partially lifts ban on emigration to Libya|url=http://www.libya-businessnews.com/2012/06/15/india-partially-lifts-ban-on-emigration-to-libya/|access-date=30 December 2012|newspaper=Libya Businessnews|date=15 June 2012}}

Trade between Libya and India amounted to $1.35 billion in 2012-13, with the balance of trade heavily in favour of Libya. Indian exports to Libya stood at $144 million while its imports were valued at $1.2 billion.{{cite news|title=India's External Affairs Minister Starts Libya Visit on Sunday|url=http://www.tripolipost.com/articledetail.asp?c=1&i=10104|access-date=16 April 2013|newspaper=Tripoli Post|date=13 April 2013}} Indian public sector companies like BHEL, Indian Oil Corporation, Oil India and ONGC Videsh are involved in Libya's hydrocarbon sector and private companies like i-Flex Solutions, Punj Lloyd, Unitech and Sun Pharma are present in Libya and have executed projects there. Since the 1980s, Indian companies have undertaken several infrastructural projects relating to the construction of hospitals, power plants, airports, dams and transmission lines in Libya.{{cite news|title=India has miles to go in post-Gaddafi Libya|url=http://www.firstpost.com/economy/india-has-miles-to-go-in-post-gaddhafi-libya-118309.html|access-date=30 December 2012|newspaper=First Post|date=October 28, 2011}}{{cite news|title=India's realistic stand on Libya crisis|url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/article1568254.ece?homepage=true|access-date=30 December 2012|newspaper=Hindu Businessline}} Although Libya is an oil rich country, India imports only a minuscule proportion of its oil from Libya. Indians however are an important part of the workforce in the construction and petroleum sectors and their remittances to India are significant.{{cite news|title=India forges new bonding with Libya|url=http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/india-forges-new-bondinglibya/437175/|access-date=30 December 2012|newspaper=Business Standard|date=May 30, 2011}}

India has been extending scholarships and training Libyan personnel under its Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and under the India-Africa Summit Program. Libya has been linked to the Pan-African e-Network project being undertaken by India.{{cite news|title=India's ambassador meets Libyan Minister of International Cooperation|url=http://www.libyaherald.com/2012/12/25/indias-ambassador-meets-libyan-minister-of-international-cooperation/|access-date=4 January 2013|newspaper=The Libya Herald|date=25 December 2012}} Libya and the Election Commission of India have signed an agreement for sharing expertise and the training of personnel in Libya in the conduct of elections.{{cite news|title=India, Libya ink agreement on electoral cooperation|url=http://www.business-standard.com/generalnews/news/india-libya-ink-agreementelectoral-cooperation/86370/|access-date=30 December 2012|newspaper=Business Standard|date=November 30, 2012}} Following the Libyan Civil War, the Government of India gifted 1000 Jaipur Foot artificial limbs to injured Libyans and has proposed the establishment of an Indo-Libyan Prosthetics Center and Vocational Training and Research Centers in Libya. India also provided the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) with a humanitarian assistance of $1 million and provided it with another $1 million worth of essential drugs.{{cite news|title=India's ambassador meets Libyan Minister of International Cooperation|url=http://www.libyaherald.com/2012/12/25/indias-ambassador-meets-libyan-minister-of-international-cooperation/|access-date=30 December 2012|newspaper=Libya Herald|date=25 December 2012}}

The Embassy of India in Tripoli is a diplomatic mission of the Republic of India to Libya. Embassy is temporarily relocated to Tunisia due to fragile political and security situation in Libya.{{Cite web|title=India-Libya Relations|url=https://www.embassyofindiatunis.gov.in/india-libya-bilateral-relations.php#|website=Embassy of India, Tunisia}}{{Cite web|date=2013-05-09|title=Indian Embassy in Tripoli-Libya Official Website - Embassy News & Press Releases|url=http://indianembassy.ly/|access-date=2021-10-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509082722/http://indianembassy.ly/|archive-date=2013-05-09}}

India established resident diplomatic mission in 1969. Embassy operations shifted to Tunisia in 2011 after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. Embassy in Tripoli maintains presence through staff on rotation. India is trying to re-establish full-time resident embassy in Tripoli. Embassy of India, Tunis looks after affairs related to Libya.{{Cite web|date=2020-10-12|title=Indians abducted in Libya released, efforts on for their return home: MEA|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/indians-abducted-in-libya-released-efforts-on-for-their-return-home-mea/story-14HuKO2K9T9ez5mEcEQ2SP.html|access-date=2021-10-01|website=Hindustan Times|language=en}}

Scholarships are offered by the embassy to local nationals to study in India.{{Cite web|title=ICCR Scholarships|url=http://a2ascholarships.iccr.gov.in/assets/site/docs/ICCR-SCHOLARSHIP-MANUAL.pdf|website=ICCR}}{{Cite web|date=2013-06-04|title=Indian Embassy in Tripoli-Libya Official Website - Education|url=http://indianembassy.ly//index.php?page=education|access-date=2021-10-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130604182530/http://indianembassy.ly//index.php?page=education|archive-date=2013-06-04}}

{{Portal|India|Libya|Politics}}

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Libya

Category:Bilateral relations of Libya