Indian officials (from left) Randhir Jaiswal, Vinay Kwatra, ambassador Vipul, and Assem R Mahajan at the press briefing in Doha. PICTURE: Shaji Kayamkulam
The visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Qatar has set the stage for taking India-Qatar relationship to much higher level across all domains of co-operation and laid the foundation to explore opportunities in some new areas, noted Vinay Kwatra, the Indian foreign secretary, yesterday.
He was addressing the media in Doha along with India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) joint secretary (Gulf) Assem R Mahajan, joint secretary and official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal and Indian ambassador Vipul, on the sidelines of the two-day visit. Modi had an audience with His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani at the Amiri Diwan yesterday and was accorded a ceremonial welcome. He also met with His Highness the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and on Wednesday met HE the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohmmed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani.
Kwatra said that the Indian premier thanked His Highness the Amir for taking care of the welfare of the Indian community in Qatar and discussed various areas of collaboration between Qatar and India. “The prime minister had a successful visit to Qatar and it included discussions on co-operation in new areas such as space, technology and innovation. Both sides held delegation-level discussions and restricted talks. The discussions covered a wide array of topics including economic co-operation, investments, energy partnership, space collaboration, urban infrastructure, cultural bonds and people-to-people ties. The two leaders also exchanged views on regional and global issues,” explained Kwatra.
“Both leaders held discussions on areas of co-operation including trade partnership, investment co-operation, and energy partnership, issues related to regional security, cultural affinity and people-to-people ties. The two leaders focused on the need for strategic investment and strategic partnership in the field of energy and technology. They also discussed the topics of national and international importance. The prime minister also invited His Highness the Amir to pay a visit to India,” continued Kwatra.
According to the Indian foreign secretary, the bilateral trade between both the countries stands roughly at $20bn. “The discussions focused on strong investment co-operation that India and Qatar have; strong and vibrant Indian diaspora living in Qatar; the multifaceted partnership in energy which includes energy trade and energy supply chain contributing to the field of energy security,” he highlighted.
Kwatra said that Indian prime minister during his meeting with His Highness the Father Amir congratulated him for his visionary leadership that has paved the way for the development of Qatar in the past decades and laying the foundation for strong India-Qatar bilateral relationship.
His Highness the Father Amir commented that India and Qatar share an unwavering bond empitomised by mutual trust and co-operation and appreciated the role of Indian diaspora in Qatar. “On the sidelines of India Energy Week held in Goa recently, the two countries signed an agreement for 7.5mn metric tonnes per annum LNG from Qatar to India for two decades starting from 2028 onwards. This long-term partnership goes way back to 1999 and remains robust and future oriented,” added, the foreign secretary.
