India, Bahrain sign key deals to enhance ties

King Hamad shakes hands with Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Wednesday. — AFP

King Hamad inspected a guard of honour on the grounds of the Rashtrapati Bhavan and met Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh as well as opposition leader Sushma Swaraj.

Later, King Hamad accompanied by his sons Shaikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa and Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa visited the Raj Ghat, the memorial for Mahatma Gandhi and laid wreaths there.

In a display of genuine reverence, the Bahraini dignitaries took off their shoes and stood with their heads bowed in respect.

The visit also saw a lot of serious business being conducted. The Bahraini delegation comprises of eight ministers — Deputy PM Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa; Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa; Minister of Industry & Commerce Dr Essam Fakhro; Minister for Transportation and Acting CEO of the Economic Development Board Ahmed Kamal; Minister for Electricity & Water Dr Abdulhusain Mirza; Minister of Labour Jameel Humaidan; and President of the General Council for Youth & Sports (which is a rank of minister) Shaikh Nasser.

A number of significant MoUs were inked at the official ministerial level and also between businesses.

Three of the ministerial-level MoUs that were signed in the palatial Hyderabad House, in the presence of King Hamad and Manmohan Singh were an agreement for co-operation in Youth and Sports affairs, signed by Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa and Salman Khurshid, India’s Minister for External Affairs, which aims at promoting and strengthening bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the field of sports and youth through institutional exchanges particularly through exchange of youth and sports teams in various disciplines.

The second was an MoU on the establishment of a “High Joint Commission” for bilateral cooperation between India and Bahrain which was signed by Bahraini Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and India’s Khurshid — a new MoU that will replace the existing Joint Committee for the Technical and Economic Cooperation (established in 1981) by “High Joint Commission”, to be chaired by the foreign ministers, and will serve as an umbrella framework for all bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

The third MoU was also signed by Shaikh Khalid and Khurshid — it was an MoU between the Foreign Service Institute of MEA and the Diplomatic Institute, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain and it aims at promoting cooperation between the FSI and the Diplomatic Institute, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain, including exchange of information on structure and content of training programmes, exchange of trainees, students, faculty members, experts and researchers.

Earlier, King Hamad met a group of Indian businessmen and urged them to invest in Bahrain and benefit from its economic and social openness. “Bahrain spares no effort to encourage external investments with India, being the cornerstone of economic development and social prosperity,” King Hamad said as he received at his residence at the ITC Maurya in New Delhi, an Indian delegation featuring leading business tycoons and traders.

Addressing the delegation, he hailed long-standing bilateral relations, commending the strong economic, trade and investment cooperation. King Hamad lauded the pivotal role of the Indian businessmen and their Bahraini counterparts in boosting the volume of trade exchanges, setting up joint ventures and holding exhibitions and forums whose dividends benefit the two friendly countries.

King Hamad paid tribute to Bahraini and Indian trailblazing traders who put, since early 20th century, the first cornerstone of decades-long business cooperation between the two strategically-located countries.

He emphasised Bahrain’s strategic position on the crossroads of world trade routes. King Hamad stressed the common denominators bonding Bahrain and Indian, with both located in the Asian continent and sharing the same long-standing civilisation. At a business forum jointly hosted by the Bahrain Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Economic Development Board, a number of MoUs were signed to energise the economic ties between Bahrain and India. These include an MoU between the Bahrain Economic Development Board and the Confederation of Indian Industries to initiate the setting up of a CII office in Bahrain; an MoU to explore the food agribusiness between Khalid Al Amin & Co. and Dr B.R. Shetty & Co.; an MoU between VKL Holding Co. and Ansal Buildwell Ltd.

An MoU was also signed between Bader Group of Companies and Prime Media Group; an MoU between the Bahrain businesswomen’s Society and Business Professional Women of India; an agribusiness MoU between Nader & Ebrahim S/0 Hassan Co. and Sanghar Exports, an MoU between National Cement Co. and Liberty Group of India and an MoU between Haji Hassan Group and Ashtech India Pvt. Ltd.

In all, eight commercial MoU were signed in New Delhi and more shall be signed in Mumbai where the business delegation will next go.