Modi, Qatar's Emir hold talks to boost ties

With an intent to give a push to India- Qatar ties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on Sunday held detailed talks here on a wide range of issues.

At the outset, Modi personally extended greetings to the Emir, who celebrated his 36th birthday two days back. The Prime Minister had called him on that day to convey the greetings over phone.

Before the talks, Modi was given a ceremonial reception at the Emiri Diwan, the seat of power of Qatar's ruler.

"The full splendour of an Arab welcome as PM @narendramodi receives ceremonial honours at Emiri Diwan in Doha," External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted along with a photo.

Cooperation in energy is expected to be high on the agenda of the talks that were to cover various aspects of the relationship.

Qatar is an important trading partner for India in the Gulf region with bilateral trade in 2014-15 standing at $15.67 billion.

Qatar is also one of India's key sources of crude oil and it also has a large population of Indians over 6.3 lakh.

While landing here on Saturday, Modi had said India attaches great priority to strong ties with Qatar and that his visit seeks to expand the bilateral ties further.

The Prime Minister has been focusing on improving ties with the Gulf region which is crucial for India's energy security. He has already visited United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

His trip marks a Prime Ministerial visit after eight years. The then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had visited Doha in 2008.

The Emir of Qatar had visited India in March 2015. Previously, the then Emir of Qatar had visited India in 1999, 2005 and 2012.