New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Qatar on February 14 after concluding his two-day visit to the UAE, foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra said on Monday.
The trip to Qatar is aimed at discussing ways to further "strengthen overall ties", Kwatra said. "After completing his UAE visit on February 14, the PM will travel to Doha on February 14 afternoon. During the visit, PM Modi will hold bilateral talks with Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad, the Emir of Qatar, and high dignitaries in Qatar ... this will be the PM's second visit to Qatar ... strong bilateral trade between India and Qatar, currently stands at $20 billion," the foreign secretary said.
The announcement comes hours after Qatar released eight jailed former Indian Navy personnel with seven of them returning home on Monday. The same is being seen as a major diplomatic victory for India that came nearly three-and-half months after a Qatari court handed them a death sentence that was subsequently commuted to varying jail terms.
Referring to it, Kwatra said PM Modi had personally supervised developments in the case. "We are gratified by Qatar's decision to release the Indians," he said. PM Modi's visit to Qatar will provide an opportunity for the top leadership of the two countries to discuss ways to further deepen and strengthen our multifaceted partnership as well as exchange views on different regional and international issues of mutual importance, Kwatra noted.
Kwatra highlighted that this will be the second visit of PM Modi to Qatar, with the last one taking place in June 2016. There have been several high-level exchanges between India and Qatar in recent years. Earlier, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar visited Doha in November 2022 and the then Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu in June 2022. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has also undertaken multiple visits to Qatar in the last three to four years, the Foreign Secretary said.
Meanwhile, Union Tourism and Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy thanked Prime Minister Modi for ensuring the release of eight Navy veterans. "The former Indian Navy personnel who were arrested in Qatar have been released following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention. I want to thank PM Modi. One among the eight released Navy veterans belongs to Visakhapatnam," Kishan Reddy said in Hyderabad.
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