Headlines
India, Qatar ink six agreements during Emir's visit
India and Qatar inked six agreements, including one on transfer of
sentenced prisoners, as visiting Emir of Qatar Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani
held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Wednesday.
The
Emir, who is here on a two-day visit, was in the morning accorded a
ceremonial reception at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan. External
Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on him, after which he held talks
with Prime Minister Modi at Hyderabad House.
The six agreements,
besides transfer of sentenced prisoners, are: an MoU for Cooperation in
the field of Information and Communication Technology; an MoU between
the ministry of earth sciences and Qatar Meteorological Department for
Scientific and Technical cooperation; an MoU between Diplomatic
Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Qatar and Foreign Service
Institute of the ministry of external affairs; an MoU for cooperation in
the field of Radio and Television; and an agreement for Mutual
Cooperation and Exchange of News.
External affairs ministry
spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin tweeted: "Opening new doors for investment.
Minister @SushmaSwaraj meets Emir of Qatar."
Under the agreement
on transfer of sentenced prisoners, Indian prisoners convicted in Qatar
can be repatriated to India to serve the remaining part of their
sentence. Similarly Qatari citizens convicted in India can be sent to
their home country to serve their sentence. This agreement would enable
the sentenced persons to be near their families and would help in the
process of their social rehabilitation, said an official statement.
The Qatar emir is accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising ministers, senior officials and captains of industry.
The
former Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, had visited
India thrice: in 1999, in 2005 and in 2012. Former prime minister
Manmohan Singh had visited Qatar in November 2008.
Around 600,000
Indian nationals work in Qatar, comprising the largest expatriate
community in Qatar. Qatar is also the largest source of India's LNG
imports, at 86 percent. Bilateral trade stands at $16 billion, heavily
weighted in favour of Qatar due to India's LNG imports.