By Ishita Malakar
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Amir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani met at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi recently and formed decisions on the annual bilateral trade. This will possibly be doubled in the coming five years to make it amount to at least 27$ billion besides the West Asian nation which has already made vows to invest 10$ billion for India’s development.
These deals also included the possibility of a bilateral Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the two nations to strategize better communication and partnership opportunities for both.
Both these leaders have discussed regional as well as international issues which are of interest to both India and Qatar and have exchanged views and opportunities around them. These discussions also included topics related to the Middle East and its safety and security situations which are right now in jeopardy. Both these leaders have come to a mutual agreement on the importance of diplomacy as well as dialogue when dealing with international disruptions which is also to be handled with peace.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on Twitter (formerly known as X) that in these discussions they have prominently talked about trade. They are right now planning on improving trade linkages between India and Qatar. Some of the most necessary factors these two countries can work together on include health, technology, energy, food processing, pharma and green hydrogen. Sheikh Tamim has also mentioned India being one of the most important economic partners of Qatar.
Qatar is the largest supplier of LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) in India with India’s bilateral trade with Qatar being 14.08$ billion in 2023-24. In February 2024, a long-term agreement was made for the supply of 7.8 million tonnes of LNG beginning in 2028. Both the ministers also agreed on including a Joint Task Force to mutually invest in the energy sector.
Other factors talked about include cyber security and intelligence developments. The Qatar Investment Authority right now has investments worth 1.5$ billion in India for retail, IT, health, education and power and is likely to invest 10$ billion in coming years.