‘My first visit to beautiful Bahrain’: Indian Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

India’s Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs, V Muraleedharan, yesterday arrived in Bahrain for a three-day visit. It is also the first official visit of the minister to the Kingdom, where he will hold talks with several dignitaries and Indian community members.

“Arrived in beautiful Bahrain on my first ever visit,” the minister tweeted as he landed in the Kingdom. Ambassador Tawfeeq Ahmed Al Mansoor, the Undersecretary for Consular and Administrative Affairs, MFA, and Indian Ambassador Piyush Srivastava received him at the Bahrain International Airport. “Look forward to my interaction, including with several dignitaries and Indian community,” the minister further wrote on his Twitter account.

The minister had said that he would hold “discussions with Bahraini Ministers & dignitaries” and a “wide cross-section of Indian Community, including those in health, education, business & social service.”

To felicitate KG Baburajan

Indian Embassy, in a statement, said the minister would interact with Indian community members during an event to mark “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahtsov”, an initiative of the Government of India to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of progressive India.

The minister will also participate in a reception at Gulf Hotel, Bahrain, tomorrow, during which he will felicitate KG Baburajan, the Pravasi, Bharatiya Samman Awardee 2021.

$1 billion trade

Bahrain, which houses around 350,000 Indian community members, enjoys a bilateral trade of $1 billion and is rising steadily. Both countries are also celebrating the golden jubilee of the establishment of their diplomatic relations in 2021.

V Muraleedharan’s visit follows Dr S Jaishankar’s, the External Affairs Minister of India, who was in Bahrain in November 2020. In April 2021, Foreign Minister Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani and Dr Jaishankar chaired the Third High Joint Commission between India and Bahrain. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had visited Bahrain in August 2019.