Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday joined the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and other dignitaries in the inauguration of FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Vice President Dhankhar was in Doha for a two-day visit to represent India at the inauguration of FIFA's showpiece event. He was visiting Doha at the invitation of Qatar Emir.
Besides attending the inaugural ceremony of the Football World Cup, the Vice President also interacted with members of the Indian community during the visit.
The Vice President's visit would be an opportunity to join a close and friendly country Qatar as it hosts a major sporting event and also acknowledge the role played and support extended by Indians in this World Cup, the MEA statement said.
India and Qatar enjoy close and friendly relations with multi-faceted partnership extending to areas of trade, energy, security, defence, health, culture, education, among others, the MEA statement said. In the last financial year, bilateral trade between the two countries crossed $15 billion.
Qatar plays an important partner in India's energy security and India participates in the gGlf nation's food security.
India and Qatar would be celebrating 50 years of establishment of full diplomatic relations next year. The MEA statement said people-to-people ties form an important element of bilateral relationship with over 840,000 Indians in Qatar.
