There are several areas for co-operation between Qatar and India, especially in the post-Covid-19 world to take the already robust bilateral relations to a higher level of excellence, India’s External Affairs Minister, Dr S Jaishankar expressed the optimism in an online interaction with Indian community members on Sunday.
“The opportunities that will arise in India due to the economic recovery, provide a platform for more co-operation," he told in response to a suggestion by Gulf Times Deputy Managing Editor K T Chacko for enhancing Qatar-India relations.
"There will be a lot opportunities in India for the world economies, including Qatar to spread out the investments and business interests. The climate is suitable in India and there are several new possibilities in many areas including food security.
“There are opportunities for potential partnerships and this is where India can be beneficial to Qatar. I will communicate these possibilities to Qatari authorities and how India can contribute to Qatar’s growth,” continued Dr Jaishankar who is on a two-day visit to Qatar.
Indian ambassador Dr Deepak Mittal welcomed the gathering and highlighted the importance of the visit of the minister. At the virtual meeting, community leaders shared their ideas and suggestions for improving the relationships between both countries and also apprised the minister of some of the requirements of the community such space for community centre, sports centre among other matters.
"I had two rounds of conversation with my Qatari counterpart. He has been very positive in his response and was very encouraging about my visit. I will do my best to make sure that the post Covid- 19 world has a much stronger India-Qatar partnership,” highlighted Dr Jaishankar.
He also assured that the comments and suggestions made by the community members will be taken up with the authorities both in Qatar and India and promised to assist the community in all its needs.
“Investment suggestions raised in this meeting will be discussed with my colleagues in India. Covid-19 has made us think differently in several areas. People are now looking at solutions more practically than a year ago. We will also try to harness the investment potential of NRIs in Qatar as well as the potential to expand the export possibilities from India to Qatar,” explained the minister.
Indian apex body presidents: AP Manikantan (Indian Cultural Centre), P N Baburajan (Indian Community Benevolent Forum), Hassan Chogule (Indian Sports Council) and Azeem Abbas (Indian Business and Professionals Council) spoke at the event and highlighted the activities undertaken by these bodies as well as the needs of the community.
Doha Bank Group CEO Dr R Seetharaman focused on the need to increase bilateral trade and the relevance of public-private partnership model in this connection.
Dr Mohan Thomas, a leading physician and prominent community leader, highlighted that education and sports opportunities can help develop India's opportunities with Qatar. He observed that education possibilities from institutions such the Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institutes of Management could benefit a lot of people in Qatar and create vast opportunities while India with its 1.3bn population could be a strong partner with Qatar in sports events.
Sasidharan from community forum Punarjani, suggested tapping the skills of the over 100 Indian scientists in Qatar while Farook Butt suggested to promote Jammu and Kashmir as a favourite tourism spot in Qatar and the Middle East. Juttas Paul highlighted the need for a community centre for the large number of community members in the country.
"There will be a lot opportunities in India for the world economies, including Qatar to spread out the investments and business interests. The climate is suitable in India and there are several new possibilities in many areas including food security.
“There are opportunities for potential partnerships and this is where India can be beneficial to Qatar. I will communicate these possibilities to Qatari authorities and how India can contribute to Qatar’s growth,” continued Dr Jaishankar who is on a two-day visit to Qatar.
Indian ambassador Dr Deepak Mittal welcomed the gathering and highlighted the importance of the visit of the minister. At the virtual meeting, community leaders shared their ideas and suggestions for improving the relationships between both countries and also apprised the minister of some of the requirements of the community such space for community centre, sports centre among other matters.
"I had two rounds of conversation with my Qatari counterpart. He has been very positive in his response and was very encouraging about my visit. I will do my best to make sure that the post Covid- 19 world has a much stronger India-Qatar partnership,” highlighted Dr Jaishankar.
He also assured that the comments and suggestions made by the community members will be taken up with the authorities both in Qatar and India and promised to assist the community in all its needs.
“Investment suggestions raised in this meeting will be discussed with my colleagues in India. Covid-19 has made us think differently in several areas. People are now looking at solutions more practically than a year ago. We will also try to harness the investment potential of NRIs in Qatar as well as the potential to expand the export possibilities from India to Qatar,” explained the minister.
Indian apex body presidents: AP Manikantan (Indian Cultural Centre), P N Baburajan (Indian Community Benevolent Forum), Hassan Chogule (Indian Sports Council) and Azeem Abbas (Indian Business and Professionals Council) spoke at the event and highlighted the activities undertaken by these bodies as well as the needs of the community.
Doha Bank Group CEO Dr R Seetharaman focused on the need to increase bilateral trade and the relevance of public-private partnership model in this connection.
Dr Mohan Thomas, a leading physician and prominent community leader, highlighted that education and sports opportunities can help develop India's opportunities with Qatar. He observed that education possibilities from institutions such the Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institutes of Management could benefit a lot of people in Qatar and create vast opportunities while India with its 1.3bn population could be a strong partner with Qatar in sports events.
Sasidharan from community forum Punarjani, suggested tapping the skills of the over 100 Indian scientists in Qatar while Farook Butt suggested to promote Jammu and Kashmir as a favourite tourism spot in Qatar and the Middle East. Juttas Paul highlighted the need for a community centre for the large number of community members in the country.
