India Upgrades Strategically Vital Qatar Partnership

When Narendra Modi was first elected as the Prime Minister in 2014, critics lamented that the first casualty would be India’s West Asia Policy. But 11 years hence, India currently enjoys a stable partnership with counterparts in West Asia. Modi administration rejuvenated the ties with West Asia under the Link West Policy and established Strategic Partnerships with four Gulf Nations-UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait. The latest to join the list is Qatar.

Gulf Nations are extremely crucial to India’s strategic interests, given India’s pivotal role in energy security, employment and remittances. The region is India’s Gateway to the MENA region and the Mediterranean. Adding a new dimension to India’s West Asia engagement, India is now expanding and strengthening connectivity and maritime security cooperation turning the region into its extended neighbourhood. Steady progress in the ties with Gulf countries witnessed a sharp increase in bilateral trade to $160-180 billion.

Refused to be shackled by the ideological fetters, widening its opportunities, guided by geopolitical realism, India is now forging ties with all countries. Given Modi’s refreshingly vibrant approach, it should come as no surprise that the PM, in a special gesture, broke the protocol to receive Qatar Amir Shiekh Tamim bin Hamid Al Thani, who was on a state visit to India from February 17-18.  This is his second visit to India. He last visited India in March 2015.

Jaishankar’s January visit set the stage for Amir’s State visit, who arrived in India at PM Modi’s invitation with a large delegation of ministers, senior officials and business leaders. Jaishankar even frequented Qatar in June 2024 and December 2024. Amir’s visit to India comes at a time of intense diplomatic activity and coincides with US-Russia talks in Riyadh.

The quick-paced activities in the West Asia, including the implementation of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas ahead of Trump’s inauguration and his sensational statement of turning Gaza into a “French Riviera”, have turned global attention to the unfinished agenda of evasive peace and stability in the region. Considering the implausibility of the plan, Trump’s statement elicited both outrage and disbelief. As a country with strategic interests in the region, the Gazan issue has been among many other regional issues which were discussed by leaders of India and Qatar.

After the ceremonial guard of honour, leaders held bilateral talks and reviewed the gamut of bilateral cooperation. India’s position on Palestine is well known. Reiterating its stance, the Joint Statement stated, “leaders emphasised the importance of dialogue and diplomacy for peaceful resolution of international disputes”.

Recalling the historic trade linkages and deep-rooted people-to-people ties, countries agreed to diversify trade, prioritise market access and explore the possibility of entering into a bilateral Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

India is Qatar’s second-largest trade partner, with bilateral trade worth $14.84 billion. Qatar is India’s largest supplier of LNG and LPG. India also imports other petroleum products, ammonia and urea, from Qatar. Leaders set a target of doubling trade to $28 billion by 2030. The bilateral trade is largely in favour of Qatar. Currently, Qatar’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), has $1.5 billion FDI in India. Qatar pledged to increase FDI to $10 billion, spanning across infrastructure and new technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, machine learning, manufacturing, food security, logistics and hospitality sectors.

Firming up the energy cooperation, GAIL recently finalised an agreement with Qatar Energy for 60 LNG cargoes over the next five years. To mitigate supply uncertainties, QatarEnergy and India’s Petrolink signed a 20-year agreement worth $ 78 billion for importing 7.5 million metric tonnes of LNG per annum starting from 2028.

Amir’s visit to India coincided with the Joint Business Forum, earlier held virtually. Countries signed two MoUs at the event - an MoU between Invest India and Invest Qatar for promoting investments and another MoU between CII and the Qatari Businessmen Association. In all, countries signed five MoUs, including MoU on economic partnership, cooperation in archives and documentation, and sports and youth affairs. Two major agreements, one on a bilateral strategic partnership and another on a double taxation avoidance agreement, were also sealed.

Countries recognised the need to bolster trade to guardrail the bilateral ties against the bilateral and regional exigencies. Agreeing to explore settlement of bilateral trade in respective currencies, India’s UPI was operationalised at Qatar National Bank (QNB) Point of Sales. Reciprocally, QNB has opened an office at GIFT City.

With a population of 3.1 million and a GDP of $221.4 billion, Qatar is home to an 830,000-strong Indian community, about 25% of the Qatari population. Indian Diaspora comprising of highly skilled and semi-skilled workers are a vital cog in Qatar’s economic growth engine.

Known for punching above its weight, Qatar wields disproportionate diplomatic heft. A commanding presence of strategic military bases of the US, the UK and Australia in Qatar confers an immense strategic clout. Besides, maintaining close ties with the US, Qatar has close links with Iran and Turkey. It is also a shelter ground for the Afghan Taliban, Hamas and Hezbollah. Given Qatar's versatile diplomatic engagements with countries and important actors, it has been the West’s go-to player for negotiations in the event of any conflagration in the region.

Qatar has been instrumental in the US-Afghan Taliban finalisation and operationalisation of the Doha Agreement, paving the way for US troop withdrawal and reinstatement of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Similarly, along with Egypt, Qatar played a key role in the return of hostages and the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Qatar is also an important transit hub for those travelling to South Asia and South East Asia. Qatar, along with Turkey, have backed the anti-Assad forces. With the fall of Assad’s regime, Qatar’s role as an important financier is on the rise in the region.

Mired with controversies and known for its tendentious and partisan approach, Qatar faced the ignominy of its Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) peers for supporting radical Islamist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, interfering in domestic affairs and carrying out negative propaganda through Al-Jazeera.

In 2017, the anti-terrorism Quartet-Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt boycotted Qatar. Along with the Quartet, Maldives, Mauritania, Senegal, Djibouti, the Comoros, Jordan, and Hadi-led Yemen government also severed diplomatic ties with Doha and imposed sea, land and air blockade on Qatar. It was also expelled from the anti-Houthi coalition. After a four-year blockade, GCC members reached a reconciliation in 2021.

During the blockade, Qatar established direct shipping lines with Indian ports- Mundra and Nhava Sheva in 2017 to avoid transhipment at UAE’s Jebel Ali. To facilitate the quick shipment of perishable goods to retain their freshness and quality, Qatar started the India Qatar Express service. India bailed out Qatar from a food crisis during the blockade. Before 2017, Qatar was using Saudi’s Abu Samra to import 90% of its food supplies. During this period, Turkey, Oman and Iran also played a major role in bailing out Qatar.

India’s agricultural supplies served as a lifeline to Qatar’s food security during the blockade. In the run-up to the FIFA 2022 hosted by Doha, amid the blockade, Qatar even offered select permanent residency to Indians, the indispensable backbone for its FIFA Cup preparations and removed visa restrictions for 80 countries, including India.

Notwithstanding India’s support during the blockade, Qatar’s mouthpiece, Al-Jazeera, platformed anti-India voices and stoked anti-CAA propaganda. Qatar has been at the forefront of the frontal attacks against Nupur Sharma. Qatar summoned the Indian envoy and issued protest notes rejecting and condemning her remarks on Prophet Mohammed. To defuse the diplomatic row, the Indian Embassy in Qatar said, "Ambassador conveyed that the tweets do not, in any manner, reflect the views of the Government of India. These are the views of fringe elements”.

Modi government’s position earned it severe wrath from its dedicated electorate, who denounced the party for its stance. Qatar, a theatre for the Islamist ecosystem has been adept at weaponising radical Islam to bolster its position in the Muslim world. Since partition, Pakistan, which had axes to grind with India, has used this Islamic connection and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) against New Delhi to besmirch India and internationalise the Kashmir issue.

Pulling India out of this axiomatic religious equation, PM Modi renewed and rejuvenated ties with West Asia and especially Gulf countries to checkmate Pakistan’s anti-India policy. Indeed, India’s robust West Asia policy averted a possible diplomatic storm that Pakistan planned to brew post-Article 370 abrogation. Apart from issuing a critical statement, the OIC refused to throw its weight behind Islamabad.

Notwithstanding its Islam centrality, India, through intense negotiations, managed to get a $ 1 billion penalty waiver from RasGas of Qatar on India’s LNG importer Petronet LNG and a 50% rate cut on gas imports in 2016. Again, in December 2023, PM Modi personally sought Amir’s intervention along the sidelines of the COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai for the release of eight Indian Navy veterans. Seven veterans were released in February 2024 after 18 months in custody. India is closely pursuing the release of Veteran Purnendu Tiwari, whose case is still subjudice.

In a rare protocol departure, as a token of gratitude, PM Modi received the Amir at the airport. Prioritising national interests and refusing to be dragged by dogmatic abstractions, India is engaging varied actors- big, small and middle powers alike. With the Indian parliament gearing to legislate the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 and states girding up loins to implement the Uniform Civil Code, Pakistan is expected to go overboard with anti-India disinformation propaganda.

Pakistan deliberately escalated the Nupur Sharma issue in 2022 and blew it out of proportion, triggering a backlash from Qatar and other Muslim nations. Islam is the soft power of Qatar. PM Modi’s extensive outreach to Qatar can help pre-empt Pakistan’s nefarious machinations and demolish Islamophobic motives attributed to India. Prompted by strategic considerations as India seeks to step up engagement with the Taliban, a favourable Qatar can be salutary. Also, Defence Cooperation which was a key pillar of India-Qatar bilateral ties is now off the list after Qatari forces started training with Pakistan. Due to the increased number of Pakistani-origin nationals in the Qatari military India hasn't renewed the defence agreement after 2023.

A stable relationship with Qatar is too important to be lost to insidious conspiracies and diplomatic cross-wires. Qatar’s investments, reliable energy imports and Indian diasporic interests are too vital to be squandered.

Challenges persist. The bilateral ties need constant nurturing and foresight. Embracing strategic opportunism, in these times of immense geopolitical churn, with a long-term objective of securing national interests and prioritising growth, India and Qatar have elevated ties.