NEW DELHI: India will train Qatar’s police for the FIFA World Cup 2022.
This was agreed upon during a meeting between Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al Thani and Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi on Saturday.
The Prime Minister, who holds the Interior Ministry portfolio, invited Mr Singh to Qatar to strengthen bilateral security cooperation as the country prepares to host the FIFA World Cup 2022.
“Singh offered training of police personnel to the Qatari side which was accepted in the meeting,” an official statement said.
The Qatari Prime Minister suggested sending a delegation from the Interior Ministry to study different aspects of security cooperation.
The Qatar side agreed to send a team of officers for exchange of information between the two countries and asked for a suitable date. Mr Singh assured them that it will be conveyed at the earliest.
Regarding defence cooperation between India and Qatar, it has been agreed that the Defence Minister of Qatar will visit India very soon. The Qatari Prime Minister desired the cooperation between the two countries to be extended even to the field of defence equipment.
India thanked Qatar for their amnesty scheme of facilitating Indian workers with irregular visa status to return to India without visa or get their visa extended in Qatar.
Al Thani went a step ahead and assured similar amnesty to other Indians stranded there. The two leaders also discussed the facilitation of opening Indian community schools in Qatar.
The Home Minister thanked the Prime Minister of Qatar for cooperation in the field of education for facilitating the education of Indian community in Qatar and requested for facilitation of Indian community schools in view of the large community in Qatar.
The bilateral cooperation in the field of food security was also discussed in detail by the two leaders, the statement said.
It was mentioned that the food companies of various countries are ready to invest in Qatar but the Prime Minister of Qatar desired for a large number Indian food companies to come to Qatar.
He also offered priority assistance to Indian food companies for promotion of their activities in Qatar.
The meeting with the visiting delegation was held in very cordial atmosphere and was attended by senior officers from the Ministries of Home Affairs and External Affairs, the statement said.
