The Hindu : Front Page : Manmohan in Qatar, to sign three pacts

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Monday, Nov 10, 2008
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Manmohan in Qatar, to sign three pacts

Sandeep Dikshit

DOHA: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived here on Sunday evening on the last leg of his two-nation tour. He is likely to sign two agreements on defence and security and one on securing more gas supplies from Qatar.

While National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and Defence Secretary Vijay Singh will quarterback talks on defence and security, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora has joined the Prime Minister’s delegation in view of the importance to India’s energy ties with Qatar.

Thanks to the presence of large Indian community here, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi is also with Dr. Singh to discuss measures relating to their welfare and fair treatment by employers.

“Long overdue”

Officials described the visit as “long overdue,” especially in view of the fact that Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani had visited New Delhi twice. They pointed out that Qatar was the only Gulf country with which India had a defence cooperation agreement. Both countries would now like step up security cooperation — from intelligence liaison to intelligence sharing.

Highly placed officials described Dr. Singh’s Oman leg of the visit as “successful,” especially in view of the agreement on the joint fund and progress on ensuring the welfare of the five lakh Indian expatriate community. Beginning with extraordinary protocol gestures, Dr. Singh wrapped up his visit with a four-hour interaction with Sultan of Oman Qaboos bin Said.

They said both countries had decided to set up a committee to ensure time-determined process of identifying areas where the money of the joint fund would be invested. India had asked Oman to put up its wish list which could be discussed in the next couple of months.

India and Oman also discussed the prospects of New Delhi signing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries of which both Oman and Qatar are members. Of the three aspects of the FTA, investment and services are not seen as posing much of a problem. Oman expects feedback in this respect by next month and has given indications that it will be happy if India inked the FTA when it takes over the GCC chair next year.

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