Jaishankar in Qatar for talks on trade, energy; to meet Al Thani

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar began his three-day Qatar visit on Monday. The purpose of the visit is to review bilateral trade, investment, energy, security, cultural and political relations between the two nations.

He will be meeting Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, who is also the Foreign Minister.

The Ministry of External Affairs said, “The visit will enable both sides to review various aspects of bilateral relations, including political, trade, investment, energy, security, cultural and people-to-people, as well as regional and international issues of mutual interest.”

Jaishankar’s visit to Qatar follows his six-day visit to the US where he held discussions with the outgoing Joe Biden administration and members of the transition team of President-elect Donald Trump.

In September, Jaishankar and Al Thani met in Saudi Arabia where they discussed bilateral ties and regional developments. India-Qatar cooperation in diverse sectors has been steadily growing in a framework provided by historically close ties and regular and substantive engagement, including at the highest levels of the two governments, read a government note.

Bilateral trade between India and Qatar stands at nearly $14 billion per annum with India’s exports at $1.7 billion and its imports, primarily petroleum, at $12.3 billion in 2023-24.

Mutual investments between the two countries have continued to increase and both sides also share strong partnership in the energy sector. There are over 8.35 lakh Indian nationals residing in Qatar as on December 2023.