India And Qatar Sign Seven Agreements To Improve Relations

Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi paid an official visit to wealthy Qatar, which marks the first visit to the country. He met the Gulf country’s leaders in order to discuss economic ties on Sunday.

According to India’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Qatar’s ruler, Sheikh Tamim BIN Hamad Al Thani visited India in March last year and together with Modi signed seven agreements to strengthen ties.

Modi met with a few Qatari businessmen and urged them to invest more in India, describing the nation as “a land of opportunity”.

Qatar is known to be one of the world’s largest suppliers of liquefied natural gas. According to Qatari media, India receives over 85 percent of its gas needs from Qatar.

The Indian Embassy claims that between 2014 and 2015, bilateral trade amounted to $15.7 billion, although $1 billion of represented Indian exports to Qatar.

Since 2010, India has purchased $7.5 million tons of LNG yearly from Qatar.

The Qatar Investment Authority possesses huge investments in India, including over $1 billion shares in Bharati Airtel, a telecommunications company.

Also, Qatar Airways has shown an interest in extending its routes to India and in purchasing a stake in IndiGo, a budget airline.

Modi arrived on Saturday and held a meeting with Indian laborers, informing them of his awareness of their conditions in Qatar. Modi, an active user of Twitter posted photos of himself and dining and conversing with workers.

Modi informed the workers “If you have some issues on changing some rules and regulations, I will work with you all to bring about these changes.”

Over half a million Indians reside in Qatar with many working low-payment construction jobs and building stadiums that are expected to host the 2022 World Cup. About 90pc of the 2.5 million people staying in Qatar are foreigners.

A report posted this year by Amnesty International revealed that migrant laborers are victims of abuse which in some cases amount to forced labor.

The report added that workers claimed to be living in filthy conditions and salary payments being seized for months and their passports impounded by sponsoring employees.

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Posted by modousarr on Jun 7 2016. Filed under World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.