ASIATODAY.ID, NEW DELHI – India and Qatar have elevated bilateral relations to a “strategic partnership,” focusing on trade, investments, technology, energy, and people-to-people ties. The two countries have set a target to double trade by 2030.
A set of agreements was signed between the two countries during Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani’s official visit to New Delhi, marking was his second state visit to the country. Upon the Qatari leader’s arrival in the Indian capital on Monday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally welcomed him at the airport. In a post on X, Modi called Al Thani “my brother.”
The two leaders discussed key areas of cooperation on Tuesday, including economic partnership, energy collaboration, and space technology. Trade between the two countries currently stands at around $20 billion, and the Indian Foreign Ministry stated on Tuesday that it could reach around $28 billion in the next five years.
On Tuesday, the two countries also signed a revised agreement to avoid double taxation and prevent fiscal evasion with respect to taxes. The double taxation agreement is a key step towards establishing a free trade agreement between the nations, officials said.
Qatar is India’s largest supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG), accounting for over 48% of India’s global LNG imports, according to reports. In the fiscal year 2022-23, Qatar supplied 10.74 million metric tons (MMT) of LNG to India, valued at $8.32 billion. Additionally, Qatar is also India’s largest supplier of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), accounting for 29% of India’s total LPG imports. During Modi’s visit to Qatar last year, New Delhi noted that the long-term LNG partnership between the two countries, which dates back to 1999, remains “robust, strong, and future-oriented.”
Earlier in the day, the Qatari leader participated in a bilateral business forum organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry to bolster trade ties between the two sides. The emir also met with top officials from the state-run Indian Oil Corporation and discussed the “potential of AI, LNG & sustainability through carbon capture initiatives,” emphasizing bilateral collaboration in data centers, carbon credits, deep tech, and logistics.
The Qatari leader’s visit comes days after Modi traveled to Washington and inked an energy deal with US President Donald Trump. Following talks in the White House, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri stated that New Delhi aims to increase its purchase of US energy by two-thirds to $25 billion in the near future. The US, which ranks fourth behind China, Russia, and United Arab Emirates (UAE) in terms of the value of goods and services India imports, according to the government data, has called on the South Asian country to increase imports of its oil and LNG.
In the period from January to November of 2024, India imported 5.12 million tonnes of LNG from the US, accounting for 20% of its overall LNG imports for the period. In the same timeframe, India imported 7.2 million tonnes of oil from the US, which accounted for 3.2% of New Delhi’s overall oil imports by volume. Russia is currently India’s top oil supplier, followed by Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. (RT)
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