NEW DELHI — The Indian government has identified "sunrise sectors" for investors in the Gulf with the thrust on joint ventures in infrastructure and manufacturing, integrating into supply chains and tapping sovereign wealth funds. This was stated by the Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan in his keynote address to a panel discussion here on "India and the Gulf: Leveraging energy partnerships, investment opportunities and emerging technologies." The sunrise sectors are food products, high efficiency solar photovoltaic cells, electronic and technology products, auto components, pharmaceuticals, telecom and networking products, specialty steels, white goods and advanced chemical cell batteries. Referring to an ongoing initiative by the government to "Make in India — Make for World," Muraleedharan said: "In this endeavor, India will be dependent on attracting in particular from the Gulf countries. The government of India has already made special desks to look into investments from different countries" as part to promoting ease of doing business with India.” A relatively new area of partnership with the Gulf is in jointly exploring untapped markets in Africa and Central Asia. "Gulf countries with their surplus capital, open economies and connections with different regions of the world such as Africa, Central Asia and Europe are well placed to partner with India in this quest. This is a win-win proposition for both India and Gulf," Muraleedharan added. Although COVID-19 caused unprecedented disruption across all sectors across the world, it has also shown our inter-dependence whether it be for energy supplies, food security, medical supplies or vaccine research and production. "India and the Gulf countries have worked together to tide over this unprecedented crises. Gulf countries took great care of the Indians in their countries especially during the time we had total lockdown in India." The minister thanked leaders in the Gulf for their generosity in this regard. "On our part, we ensured that supply chains, especially on food and medicines, between India and the Gulf continued uninterrupted despite the lockdown in India. We also made sure that Indian medical professionals returned to the Gulf." He said India and the Gulf region could together provide diversified sources whether in the field of energy, food or medicine. "The challenge is how we transform and gear ourselves to leverage our relations for mutual benefit and to the benefit of our partner countries." — WAM