Indian Prime Minister in Qatar Today!

Well well, a Day for us all Indians...

Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Indian Prime Minister is due on his visit to Qatar today...!!!

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INDIAN Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrives in Doha today on a two-day official visit, the first by an Indian head of government.
During his stay, Qatar and India are expected to sign two agreements on defence and security, sources said. “Apart from the two pacts, the two sides will also discuss a number of other issues ranging from energy security to bilateral trade.”
Singh, who is coming to Doha from Muscat, is to hold delegation level talks with HE the Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al-Thani this evening and meet HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani tomorrow morning, minister (political) and head of chancery at the Indian embassy Sanjiv Kohli told Gulf Times yesterday.
The Indian premier is accompanied by a delegation, including Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs E Ahmed, Planning Commission chief Montek Singh Ahluwalia and national security adviser M K Narayanan.
According to Kohli, senior officials in the prime minister’s team include defence undersecretary Vijay Singh, foreign affairs secretary (east) N Ravi, fertiliser undersecretary Atul Chaturvedi and senior defence official V N Vanshaw.
Singh will meet members of the Indian community tomorrow afternoon at the Ramada Plaza.
In his pre-departure statement yesterday, Singh said India attached great importance to bilateral ties with Qatar, which is one of the “largest and most reliable suppliers of our energy needs from the region”.
Given the current global financial crisis, he also noted that the region’s surplus funds could play an important role in increased investment in India.
At least 4.5mn Indians live and work in the Gulf region, remitting a little less than $9bn to India every year. Their safety and welfare are expected to figure in the talks between Singh and the Gulf leaders.
Qatar hosts about 420,000 Indian workers.
While in Doha, Singh will also seek to improve India’s natural gas supplies. “New Delhi is keen on buying an additional 2.5mn tonnes of LNG to meet the growing energy needs of its industry,” a report said.
According to unofficial figures, bilateral trade between India and Qatar now stands at $3.3bn, boosted largely by Qatar’s gas exports to the subcontinent.
Discussions in Doha may feature a proposal of state-run gas utility Gail India to set up a petrochemical plant in a joint venture with Reliance Industries, sources said.
India currently buys 7.5mn tonnes of LNG a year from RasGas under a long-term contract. India, which is also Qafco’s largest consumers of ammonia and urea, is Qatar’s third largest export partner after Japan and Singapore.

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Gulf Times...!!!