3 min readNew DelhiNov 24, 2020 01:47 AM IST
First published on: Nov 24, 2020 at 01:47 AM IST
External Affairs minister S Jaishankar will be headed to Bahrain, UAE and Seychelles from November 24 to 29, in his first visit after the US brokered a peace deal between Israel and UAE & Bahrain to normalise ties.
Jaishankar will be meeting his counterparts and also the top leadership of these countries during his visit.
The Bahrain–Israel agreement is a pact to normalize diplomatic and other relations between the two countries. The agreement was announced by US President Donald Trump on September 11 and followed on from a joint statement, officially referred to as the Abraham Accords, by the United States, Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on August 13. It was formally signed on September 15 at the White House in Washington DC.
Jaishankar’s visit to Bahrain on November 24-25 will be his first visit to the country as the minister.
Apart from personally conveying condolences on behalf of New Delhi on the demise of Prime Minister of BahrainPrince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa on November 11, he will “hold talks on bilateral issues as well as regional and international issues of mutual interest”, a MEA statement said.
Bahrain hosts more than 350,000 Indians and both countries have worked together to face the Covid-19 pandemic. Flights are operational between both countries under an air bubble arrangement.
After that, he will visit UAE on November 25-26 where he is scheduled to meet Foreign Minister of UAE, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan on November 26.
“Both leaders will take forward the excellent cooperation between India and UAE under our comprehensive strategic partnership and exchange views on various regional and international issues”, MEA said.
He will also discuss ways for Indian workers to resume their jobs in UAE in the post-Covid scenario. More than 3 million Indians live and work in UAE.
India and UAE have maintained close high-level contacts during the Covid-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during the pandemic.
Jaishankar has also spoken to the UAE Foreign Minister several times in the past few months. They also co-chaired the India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting in September 2020. A meeting of the High Level Task Force on Investments (HLTFI) was co-chaired by Commerce and Railway minister Piyush Goyal and Chairman, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) in early November.
In the last leg of his tour, he will travel to Seychelles on Nov 27-28 November, where he will call-on the newly elected President of Seychelles Wavel Ramkalawan and discuss with him the priorities of the new government and avenues for further strengthening India-Seychelles bilateral relations. He will also hold bilateral consultations with the newly appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism Sylvestre Radegonde. India is developing infrastructure at the Assumption island, which is a strategic project.
Jaishankar emphasised that the international community must not "countenance double standards" in the battle against terrorism. (file)
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