As PM personally welcomes ‘brother’ Sheikh Al Thani, a look at India-Qatar’s close ties under Modi govt

“Went to the airport to welcome my brother, Emir of Qatar HH Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani. Wishing him a fruitful stay in India and looking forward to our meeting tomorrow,” PM Modi wrote on X.

PM Modi’s rare gesture for Sheikh Al-Thani signifies the historical and close ties between India and Qatar which has continued to deepen in recent years.

PM Modi– Sheikh Al-Thani hold bilateral meeting

India and Qatar upgraded their bilateral relations to a strategic partnership on Tuesday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Qatari Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani focused on strengthening trade, energy, and investment ties.

The two leaders held delegation-level talks at Hyderabad House, in New Delhi.

Earlier today, the Emir of Qatar, received the Guard of Honour and a ceremonial welcome in the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

A look at India and Qatar relations under PM Modi

• Over the last nine years, especially under Prime Minister Modi’s regime, India-Qatar cooperation with UAE in diverse sectors such as trade and investment, defence and security, food and energy security and education has grown manifold.
• According to a statement by the Qatar Embassy in New Delhi, the trade exchange between Qatar and India witnessed excellent growth reaching 10 billion dollars during the financial year 2015-2016.
• However, there was a palpable decline in the trade volume between the two countries due to the decline in the rates of gas and oil in the international market in the initial years of PM Modi’s regime.
• Qatar has also been the largest supplier of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to India and exports around 70 per cent of its needs for natural gas.
• In 1990, both nations signed an agreement to buy and purchase the LNG amounting to 7.5 million tonnes annually for 25 years.
• Later on, both sides agreed in December 2015, that Qatar would provide India with an additional quantity of LNG amounting to one million annually.
• India-Qatar strong diplomatic ties were on display in February last year, when seven former jailed Indian Navy personnel, who were arrested by Qatari authorities on August 30, 2022, in an alleged case of espionage, were released by Qatar and returned to India.
• The Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) and the Financial Intelligence Unit-Qatar (FIU-Qatar) also collaborated to enhance cooperation in checking money laundering and terror funding activities undertaken by various entities, including virtual digital assets service providers (VDA-SPs).
• Notably, the Indian community is the largest expatriate group in Qatar which is estimated to be around 700 million people.
• 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.