Qatar, India take steps to upgrade ties

The bilateral relations between Qatar and India will be strengthened further with both countries yesterday agreeing to form a Supreme Committee for Co-ordination and Follow-up of Co-operation.
This came in the framework of the two-day official visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in response to an invitation from HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.
HH the Emir met Prime Minister Modi at the Emiri Diwan yesterday and they exchanged views on a number of bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest. HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani had met with Modi on Saturday.
The two sides expressed satisfaction over the level of bilateral relations, enhanced by regular high-level visits, and welcomed the signing of multilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding during the Indian premier’s visit, and stressed that these agreements in addition to the existing ones would consolidate the bonds of co-operation and friendship between Qatar and India.
Recognising that the Defence Co-operation Agreement concluded in November 2008 has provided the framework to strengthen bilateral defence relations, both sides agreed to enhance them through joint exercises and intensive training for naval, air, ground and coastal defence forces.
The Qatari side expressed interest toward the opportunities offered by the “Make in India” initiative in the field of joint production of defence equipment in India.
Both the countries strongly condemned the phenomenon of international terrorism, confirming their firm keenness to boost bilateral co-operation to eliminate this menace.
The two sides focused on the need to isolate sponsors and supporters of terrorism and agreed on the need to take urgent action against all those entities that support terrorism and use it as a tool to implement their objectives.
They discussed on further ways to enhance bilateral co-operation in the field of cyber security, including prevention of the use of cyberspace in support of terrorism.
The two sides highly appreciated the continued co-operation in the field of security and agreed to enhance co-operation in counter-terrorism operations, intelligence sharing, the development of best practices, technologies and capacity building, law enforcement, anti-money laundering, the fight against drug trafficking and other cross-border crimes.
They agreed to take further measures to counter illegal money transfers, welcoming the signing of a MoU on co-operation in the field of exchange of intelligence information relating to money laundering, related crimes and terrorist financing.
Qatar and India described the bilateral trade relations as “a link binding the two countries”, taking into account the outstanding bilateral trade exchange. They agreed to diversify trade activities and encourage their reciprocal participation in trade fairs and festivals as well as to facilitate the promotion of trade procedures.
It was agreed to encourage communication between the Qatari and Indian businessmen and implement an appropriate mechanism to speed up granting business and tourist visas for both countries.
The Qatari side welcomed the participation of Indian companies in infrastructure development projects in Qatar within the framework of preparations to host the FIFA 2022 World Cup.
The Indian side called on Qatar to invest in the exploration and production sector in India by bidding for exploration under the new Exploration Licensing Policy and the Discovered Small Field Policy.
HH the Emir  accepted an invitation from Prime Minister Modi to pay an official visit to India at a mutually convenient time.
 Modi left Doha yesterday concluding his two-day visit to Qatar. The Indian premier and the accompanying delegation were seen off upon departure at Hamad International Airport by HE the Finance Minister Ali Sherif al-Emadi,  Qatar’s ambassador to India, Ahmed Ibrahim Abdullah al-Abdullah, and India’s ambassador to Qatar, Sanjeev Arora.

Modi appreciates
Qatar Museums’ decision

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed appreciation to the Qatar Museums for its decision to celebrate Qatar-India Year of Culture in 2019.