India Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu to visit Qatar
Indian Vice President Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu will visit Qatar today.
Today’s visit marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and Qatar and heads off a larger tour in the region.
During his tour, Naidu will look to build a forward-looking partnership with Qatar by expanding existing economic and political engagement. Some areas included in discussions may be India’s already significant exports of machinery, human resource, construction and manufacturing materials, electronics, textiles, and pharmaceuticals.
In exchange, Qatar will likely look to extract promises of increased imports of ethylene propylene, aluminum, urea, and petroleum products. Politically, Qatar’s discontent with human rights violations in India, including in Kashmir and especially regarding rising Islamophobia, and its increasing ties with Israel (including in the defense sector) regarding the issue of Palestine are likely to be sticking points.
Given India’s increasing focus on energy security and the global energy stability due to the disruption in the energy supply generated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, expect fruitful negotiations on increasing bilateral trade. Moreover, the meeting will likely sustain high-level political exchanges between the two countries and promote bilateral cooperation and coordination in the long run.
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