VP Dhankhar emplanes to Qatar, will represent India at FIFA WC inauguration

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday departed for an official visit to Qatar to represent India at the inauguration of the FIFA World Cup 2022.

VP Dhankhar has been accompanied by his spouse Dr Sudesh Dhankhar and an official High delegation. Dhankhar is visiting Qatar at the invitation of Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar. It will be a two days visit.

Vice President's visit would be an opportunity to join a close and friendly country Qatar as it hosts a major sporting event and also to acknowledge the role played and support extended by Indians in this World Cup.

During his visit, besides attending the inaugural ceremony on 20 November, Vice President will also interact with the members of the Indian community.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a statement said, "India and Qatar enjoy close and friendly relations with multifaceted partnership extending to areas of trade, energy, security, defence, health, culture, education, among others. In the last financial year, bilateral trade crossed US USD 15 billion.

"Qatar plays an important partner in India's energy security and India participates in Qatar's food security. Next year, both countries would be celebrating 50 years of establishment of full diplomatic relations," further stated.

People-to-people ties form an important element of the bilateral relationships with over 840,000 Indians in Qatar.