Strategic Partnership
India, Qatar to double bilateral trade in next 5 years, says foreign ministry
This story was originally published at 18:41 IST on 18 February 2025
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NEW DELHI – India and Qatar have decided to double the bilateral trade between the two countries in the next five years, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday. The decision was arrived at during the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi earlier in the day. At present, the bilateral trade between the two nations stands at nearly $14.8 billion annually.
Both the countries also signed an agreement to elevate the relationship to a strategic partnership following the bilateral talks, Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (Consular, Passport & Visa/Overseas Indian Affairs), Arun Chatterjee, said at press briefing.
"Trade, investment and energy were among the major topics of discussion between the two leaders today. The trade today between India and Qatar is about $14.8 billion annually. Both sides have agreed to set a target to double this in the next five years. ...That means upto 2030 we are looking at a target of taking it to somewhere around $28 billion definitely," Chatterjee said, adding that Qatar is also an important partner for investments in India. "Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, Qatar Investment Authority, currently has about $1.5 billion foreign direct investment in India," he said.
The ministry informed that both the leaders identified multiple areas in which Qatar Investment Authority can increase investments in India. The areas identified include infrastructure, energy, ports, ship building, smart cities, food parks, start-ups and new technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics and machine learning, Chatterjee said.
Prime Minister Modi and Amir of Qatar also discussed ways to further strengthen and broaden the energy partnership, including exploring mutual investments. Underlining that Qatar is a major source of energy for India, the leaders noted that in February 2024, Qatar Energy and Petronet LNG Ltd signed an agreement to supply 7.5 million metric tonnes per annum liquefied natural gas from Qatar to India for 20 years starting 2028.
The secretary informed that two agreements and five memorandums of understanding were signed during the visit of the Amir of Qatar. The ministry said that the Invest India and Invest Qatar signed memorandum of understanding for promoting mutual investment.
Earlier in the day, two agreements were exchanged between the two countries -- exchange of agreement on establishment of strategic partnership between the government of India and government of state of Qatar, and exchange of revised agreement for avoidance of double taxation and prevention of physical evasion with respect to taxes on income between the government of India and government of state of Qatar.
Amir of Qatar is on two-day visit to India on the invitation of Prime Minister Modi. He arrived in India on Monday and, in a special gesture, was welcomed by Modi at airport. Thani was accompanied by a high-level delegation, including ministers, senior officials and a business delegation. This was the second visit of the Amir of Qatar to India. He last visited India in March 2015.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, India and Qatar have deep-rooted historical ties of friendship, trust and mutual respect. "In recent years, the ties between the two countries including in the areas of trade, investment, energy, technology, culture and people-to-people ties have continued to strengthen. The Indian community residing in Qatar forms the largest expatriate community of Qatar, and is appreciated for its positive contribution in the progress and development of Qatar," the ministry said in a statement. End
Reported by Kuldeep Singh
Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj
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