Bahrain and India agree to expand economic cooperation: Foreign Affairs Minister Al Zayani

Agencies | New Delhi

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain and India are embarking on a “new era” in their bilateral relations after agreeing to expand economic cooperation in various fields and at all levels, including the government level, as well as people-to-people exchange. This came as Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani yesterday headed the Kingdom’s delegation in the third meeting of Bahrain-India High Joint Commission (HJC) held in New Delhi. Dr Al Zayani and Indian Minister of External Affairs Dr Subrahamniyam Jaishankar co-chaired the meeting.

Dr Al Zayani led the third ministerial meeting, accompanied by senior officials from both sides.

The meeting was also attended by Bahrain Ambassador to India Abdulrahman bin Mohammed Al Gaoud, the Director of the Afro-Asian Affairs Directorate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Muna Abbas Radhi, and a number of Ministry officials.

Both sides, in particular, agreed to expand cooperation in oil and gas, infrastructure, investments, food processing, health, renewable energy, IT, data centers, cloud computing, space, tourism, education, culture, youth, and sports.

The wide-ranging talks also focused on reviewing their current levels of bilateral and political relations, high-level visits, bilateral institutional mechanisms, commercial and economic relations, as well as trends in bilateral trade and investment, and following up on agreements and memoranda of understanding.

The two sides discussed joint strategy and cooperation in the post-COVID-19 phase, vaccines and pharmaceuticals, cooperation in the fields of security and defense, consular/labour issues, and the integration of employment portals, in addition to culture, tourism, education, youth, and sports. They also exchanged views on regional, international, and multilateral issues and issues of common concern.