‘Indo-Arab ties embark on a promising future’

Current indicators give us confidence that the Arab-Indian cooperation is embarking on a promising future, in view of the great financial and human capabilities between the two sides, said Minister of Foreign Affairs Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa while addressing the first session of the Ministerial Meeting of the Arab-Indian Cooperation Forum yesterday.

He highlighted the role of the Arab-Indian Cooperation Forum in 2008 which aims, amongst other things, to further strengthen the economic, trade and financial cooperation and to ease the launch of joint ventures between the two sides.

The economic cooperation between the Arab countries and India has witnessed a remarkable progress over the past few years as the value of bilateral trade reached around $200 billion in 2014.

To be noted is the growth of trade exchange between the Bahrain and India in particular, which reached over BD253 million in 2014.

Besides, Bahrain is home to a large Indian community, the largest in the Kingdom, of around 350,000 people, who made great and much-appreciated contribution to the development and building process of the Kingdom.

They live in security and peace and practice their religious rituals in their places of worship in an atmosphere of freedom, which Bahrain is always keen to reinforce.

“In this respect, we need further efforts to be able to advance trade and economic relations between the two sides, giving due attention to investment. Both sides provide many opportunities, such as investment in projects relating to energy, Information Technology, sciences, technologies and environmental protection,” Shaikh Khalid said. 

He added that the Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Arab countries and their Indian counterparts could also play a vital role in encouraging and developing cooperation between the two sides.

The Foreign Minister said he hopes to increase cooperation between the two sides in many fields, such as the agricultural and food security, combating desertification, development of human resources, and health fields among others.

“Bahrain has been keen to host the first session of the Arab-Indian Cooperation Forum, which will be the real boost to the ties between the two sides and to reach wider horizons of cooperation at all levels,” he said.

He added, “We trust that this mechanism of cooperation will contribute to the deepening of coordination and understanding between the two sides on various regional and international issues of concern for all of us, and enhance mutual confidence between the two sides. This is one of the most outstanding features of the Arab-Indian relations.”

Shaikh Khalid stressed the need of Indo-Arab cooperation in combating terrorism and spread of terrorist groups, which pose threats on international peace and security.

He stated that it requires joint international efforts because the threat represented by terrorism is a common threat, which does not distinguish between geographical regions, faiths or cultures.

“There are also issues such as the environment, climate change, global warming and the need for restructuring of the United Nations Security Council whose structure is still reflecting the international reality and power balance of 1945, the aftermath of World War II. From this podium, we call for expanding the Council’s permanent and non-permanent membership to create a just representation of all the important international powers,” he stated.

Shaikh Khalid concluded by saying he looks forward to hold numerous activities in the future, as part of the executive programme for the next two years.

“We also hope that the formation of this gathering would be the quickest way towards further coordination and cooperation between the two sides and would contribute to achieving the aspirations of our people for a better future,” Shaikh Khalid said.