Press Release

Visit of Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for External Affairs to Bahrain and UAE from
October 4-8, 2009

03/10/2009

Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Hon’ble Minister of State for External Affairs will pay an official visit to Bahrain (4-5 October) and UAE (6-8 October) to appraise and discuss bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation including welfare of the large Indian community with the leadership of these countries. This is the first bilateral visit by Dr. Tharoor to these GCC countries.

2. In Bahrain, Hon’ble Minister, apart from having extensive discussions on areas of mutual interest with his counterpart is expected to meet His Majesty the King, the Crown Prince, His Excellency the Prime Minister of Bahrain, His Excellency the Foreign Minister and His Excellency Mr. Majid Bin Muhsin Al Alawi, Minister of Labour and other senior dignitaries. New avenues of cooperation including in the areas of economic, trade and energy security will be discussed. During the visit, Hon’ble Minister will also address a group of representatives of Bahraini business and Industry organized by Bahrain-India Society where he will speak on “Expanding Horizons of Cooperation between India and the GCC”.

3. In the UAE, Hon’ble Minister will call on His Majesty Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai; Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna Khalid Sultan Al Qasimi, Minister for Foreign Trade and will have detailed discussions with his counterpart, His Excellency, Dr. Anwar Gangash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs when new vistas of cooperation in wide-ranging areas will be discussed to define a fresh roadmap. He will also address a prestigious business and industry congregation arranged by HSBC /Financial times Forum on ‘Doing Business with India’. In addition, he will have interactions with the leading community members and Indian associations including the Indian Business Professionals’ Council, Dubai and Indian Business Professional Group, Abu Dhabi.

4. UAE is India’s third largest trading partner with over US$29 billion in bilateral trade. Similarly, it is one of the major investors in India with over US$4.5 billion investment through FDI /FII route in diverse sectors of the Indian economy. Hence the visit is aimed at reinvigorating our bilateral ties and cooperation.

New Delhi
October 3, 2009