New Delhi, Feb 18 (IANS) President Droupadi Murmu received Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday. She also hosted a banquet in his honour.
Welcoming Al Thani on his second State Visit to India, the President said that India’s relations with Qatar are steeped in history, spanning centuries. Qatar has been an integral part of West Asia’s linkages of commerce and culture with India.
The President said that multi-faceted engagement and cooperation between India and Qatar are marked by a deep sense of comfort and time-tested goodwill. The two countries are reliable partners in the areas of trade, investment, food security, health, culture and energy.
“We should also take advantage of the respective strengths of both countries to broaden our cooperation in the areas of innovation, technology and start-ups,” she said.
“Both countries should work together for peace, progress and prosperity of not only our people but for all people of the world,” the President added.
Both leaders agreed that the elevation of the India-Qatar relationship to the level of ‘strategic partnership’ would establish a roadmap for even closer engagement.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani signed an agreement to elevate India-Qatar relations to a Strategic Partnership with a focus on trade, energy, investments, innovation, technology, food security, culture & people-to-people ties.
Both leaders held wide-ranging talks at New Delhi’s Hyderabad House, exchanging views on regional and global issues of mutual interest.
Besides establishing bilateral strategic partnership relations, both leaders also witnessed the exchange of an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion concerning taxes on income.
In a special gesture, Prime Minister Modi travelled to the Air Force Station in Palam on Monday evening to receive the Amir on his landmark visit, his second to the country after March 2015.
“Went to the airport to welcome my brother, Amir of Qatar H.H. Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani. Wishing him a fruitful stay in India and looking forward to our meeting tomorrow,” the PM posted on X after receiving Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani.
The Amir expressed his thanks to the Prime Minister, the Government of India and the friendly people of India for the warm welcome and generous hospitality, noting the depth of the historical relations between the two countries, and stressing that India is one of the most important economic partners of the State of Qatar.
–IANS
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