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Doha, Qatar: Ambassador of the Republic of India to the State of Qatar, HE Vipul, stated that the visit of HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to India, marks a pivotal milestone in the bilateral relationship, highlighting that it is time for the two nations to build on their friendly relationship and promote it to a new level.
Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA), His Excellency added that he has been impatiently aspiring for this visit which would surely elevate the bilateral relationship to new horizons in the years ahead, emphasizing that Qatar will be one of the preeminent India's partners, in pursuit of promoting development and making India the advanced nation in 2047.
India is honored to welcome HH the Amir in his second visit, as the first visit was in 2025. Strikingly, since this first visit, many things have changed in the region and the world, as there is a mammoth technological revolution triggered by artificial intelligence and other technologies, along with the severity of regional conflicts, HE Vipul stressed.
HE Vipul underlined that the State of Qatar has performed a vital diplomatic role to resolve numerous conflicts, which culminated in its mediation to reach the Gaza ceasefire deal and releasing hostages, indicating that this role is highly appreciated globally, as long as India has been advocating for dialogue and diplomacy to solve issues.
His Excellency lauded the State of Qatar's pivotal role in settling conflicts through mediation, along with its role in the humanitarian field, highlighting that Qatar has emerged as a crucial diplomatic voice to resolve myriad conflicts, alongside its role in the humanitarian action.
Notwithstanding the regional and global evolution, both nations' economies have been resilient, and strove to deepen their longstanding relationship, His Excellency pointed out, noting that the trade and investment ties having been thriving, including the long-term partnership in energy, with the latter being renewed for years to come.
HE Vipul underlined that the Qatar-India political relationship has been solid and augmented with the exchanged visits, including the visit of HE Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to Doha in 2016 and 2024, along with the meetings that were held on the sidelines of international and intensive ministerial meetings that had palpably enabled both sides to share perspectives on moving forward with their bilateral relationship and deliberating on critical regional and global issues.
He considered the trade exchanges as a robust pillar of bilateral relationship, which include a combination of food commodities, building materials, electronics, energy, services, and more, emphasizing the significant opportunities to enhance cooperation and partnership in this field.
His Excellency highlighted India's efforts to develop legislation, in pursuit of facilitating the conduct of business by opening nearly all sectors to foreign investments, thereby enabling a substantial increase in foreign direct investment in India, which reached a level of USD1 trillion, with the Qatari direct investments amounting to approximately USD1.5 billion, spanning sectors such as retail, energy, education, information technology, healthcare, and housing.
India abounds with multiple profitable investment opportunities, by virtue of the constant growth whose percentage ranged between 6 percent to 7 percent undergirded by sectors, such as infrastructure, gas, logistical services, renewable energy, electric vehicles, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals, HE Vipul highlighted.
Highlighting Indian investment in Qatar, HE Vipul pointed out that over 20,000 small and medium-sized enterprises are recorded in Qatar and operate in a variety of fields, emphasizing that both nations renewed their energy partnership in 2024, when they signed a contract to continue exporting 7.5 million tons of Qatar's LNG to India for 20 years starting from 2028, when the current deal expires.
He indicated that the contract value is estimated at USD78 billion, emphasizing that the two countries share a considerable degree of synergy to beef up cooperation in the field of energy. He highlighted that the environment is conducive for fostering the economic partnership in light of the anticipated robust economic growth for both nations in the years ahead.
His Excellency highlighted the importance of prioritizing sectors such as technology, innovation, and sustainability, noting that India possesses one of the largest eco-systems for startups in the world that leverage technology such as AI in wide-ranging fields, such as health, biological sciences, finance, space, agriculture, logistics, transportation, entertainment, and education.
Some of the Indian startups constitute part of the Web Summit Qatar, and Qatar can capitalize on the opportunities they offer, His Excellency noted, highlighting the popular and cultural relationship between the two nations. He asserted that this relationship promotes rapprochement between the two nations, with a sizable Indian community residing in Qatar, whose contribution is highly appreciated by the Qatari leadership and society.
He added that Qatar has remained the hub for culture, education, research and sports, and this bilateral cooperation should boost those areas, alongside travel and tourism, underscoring the importance of considerably advancing this cooperation.
In his closing remarks, HE Vipul emphasized that HH the Amir's visit to India offers an invaluable opportunity for the two sides to discuss many cooperation facets, as well as regional and global issues of shared interest.
