Tuesday 8 April 2025
India and Qatar Strengthen Bilateral Ties During Emir’s State Visit
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The Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani in in India for State visit, which marks a significant step towards enhancing strategic ties between the two nations. arrived in New Delhi, where he was personally greeted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Airport and later ceremonially accorded the guard of honor at the Rashtrapati Bhavan by President Draupadi Murmu. The Emir and the PM reportedly engaged in high-level discussions focusing on trade, investment, energy, and strategic cooperation at the Hyderabad house.
This marks the Sheikhs second visit to India as Emir of Qatar, his first being in March 2015. Modi reportedly extended this invitation to the Emir during his own state visit to Qatar in February 2024. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has also engaged in multiple meetings with the Qatars high-level state leadership, most recently on January 1, 2025 in Doha.
The MEA informs that the Emir is accompanied by a high-level delegation of Ministers, Senior Officials, and Business leaders, including Qatars Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, along with the Ministers of Commerce and Industry, Energy, IT, Labor, and State for Foreign Trade.
India CPV and OIA secretary, Arun Kumar Chatterjee informed during a briefing to the press that the bilateral talks between the leaders emphasized the deep-rooted historical trade and people-to-people connections between the two countries. The most notable outcome was the elevation of Indo-Qatar relations to a strategic partnership, ensuring long-term cooperation across multiple sectors.
India and Qatar signed two key agreements to formalize this partnership, the Bilateral Strategic Partnership Agreement establishing a deeper engagement in economic, defence, and strategic areas and the Revised Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement which prevents taxation-related barriers. Additionally, five Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) were signed, covering economic partnerships, cooperation in archives and documentation, collaboration in youth affairs and sports, and investment promotion initiatives.
India and Qatar reportedly set an ambitious goal to double their bilateral trade from its current $14.8 billion to approximately $28 billion by 2030. The discussion covered avenues to boost investment with a special focus on Infrastructure development, Renewable energy projects, Smart cities and food parks, and startups and emerging technologies such as AI, robotics, and machine learning.
The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), which currently holds $1.5 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India, expressed interest in expanding its investment footprint further with a Joint Business Forum, co-chaired by the Ministers of Commerce from both nations, facilitated business-to-business interactions and collaborations.
Qatar remains Indias primary supplier of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), making energy a crucial pillar of bilateral relations between the two nations. Both leaders welcomed the February 2024 agreement between Qatar Energy and Petronet LNG Limited, which ensured a supply of 7.5 million metric tonnes of LNG annually for 20 years straight, starting in 2028. The discussion also reportedly explored expanding energy partnerships through mutual investments in renewable and conventional energy sectors.
The visit also saw preliminary discussion on the possibility of a future Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and Qatar. This aligns with Indias ongoing negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on a regional FTA, which could further streamline trade and investment between the two nations.
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