The central government’s ‘Make in India’ drive would be in focus during the visit of Qatar’s Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani to India on Tuesday. The visit will also see New Delhi seeking to invest in major infrastructure projects in the Gulf country which is hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2022.
The emir, who arrives on a two-day visit, will be accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising ministers, senior officials and captains of industry.
The talks between the visiting leader and senior Indian leaders would focus on investment opportunities for Qatar in India, especially in the light of the unveiling of the ‘Make in India’ programme in India as well as possible Indian opportunities — for engineering, procurement, construction firms — in Qatar as it prepares for the FIFA World Cup, said external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.
Both sides are expected to sign several agreements on “working out a legal architecture to ensure people-to-people flows between India and Qatar are regulated in a manner that is in accordance with international law”, he added.
Around 600,000 Indian nationals work in Qatar, comprising the largest expatriate community in the country. Qatar is also the largest source of India’s LNG imports, at 86 %.
Many Indian companies are actively involved in the Qatari market. They include L&T, Tata Projects, Voltas, Dodsal and Punj Llyod. State Bank of India (SBI) has opened its branch at the Qatar Financial Centre.
Since India has a large agriculture sector, a huge market exists here for fertilisers. Qatar is a major producer of fertilisers.
During his stay in India, the Qatari Emir will meet President Pranab Mukherjee, who will host a state banquet for him, while Vice-President Hamid Ansari will call on him.
Emir will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also meet external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.
Trade between the two countries stands at $16.30 billion, heavily weighed in favour of Qatar due to the LNG imports.
In India’s bilateral ties with Qatar, 2014 stood out as the year was marked by several high-level visits, renewal of the defence co-operation agreement, meeting of joint working groups on defence and human resources, visits of ships of the Indian Navy and Coast Guard, commencing of a new terminal for LNG supplies in Kochi, participation of Qatari companies in Petrotech 2014 and Asia Gas Partnership Summit in New Delhi, visits of business delegations from India’s apex trade and industry bodies and other organisations, approval for setting up of a Qatar National Bank office in India and a full-scale branch of Doha Bank in Mumbai, and the participation of many Indian delegates at the World Innovation Summit for Education, World Innovation Summit for Health and other major conferences in Doha.