FIRST-EVER INDIAN PM VISIT TO QATAR AIMS TO SPARK

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DOHA 000810

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/18/2018
TAGS: PREL ECON EPET ELAB MARR QA IN
SUBJECT: FIRST-EVER INDIAN PM VISIT TO QATAR AIMS TO SPARK
BETTER TIES

Classified By: Ambassador Joseph E. LeBaron, for reasons 1.4 (b, d).

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(C) KEY POINTS
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-- In follow-up to PM Singh's November 9-11 visit, the Qatar
Foundation is considering India's offer to locate a
"prestigious Indian university" at Education City outside of
Doha. India is also preparing to host Qatari investors in
January in a visit primarily aimed at infrastructure
development.

-- India had hoped to sign a new agreement that would bolster
its imports of natural gas from Qatar. Since long-term
supplies are already contracted, the best India can do is set
the stage for augmented supplies when they become available.

-- For the 400,000 plus Indians resident in Qatar, and other
Indians who want to come here, the most tangible outcome was
an agreement to establish a shared law enforcement database
whose main objective is to satisfy Qatari officials on the
criminal backgrounds of Indian visa applicants, thereby
increasing India's competitive advantage for supplying labor.


-- Even though a maritime security agreement was signed,
there are no plans for joint naval exercises any time soon.
More imminent are military goodwill visits, exchanges of
experts, and training programs.

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(C) COMMENT
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-- Implicit in the Indian diplomats' readout of the visit was
the sense that India's lack of attention to Qatar (and
tardiness in accepting the Amir's invitation to Doha) was
hurting India in the competition to supply expatriate
workers.

-- Another theme was that the Indian Embassy believed
advancing India's chief objectives (bolstering natural gas
supplies and attracting investment) would not happen absent
good relations at the highest levels of government.

END KEY POINTS AND COMMENT.


1. (C) In a November 17 meeting with P/E Chief, Indian
Embassy Political Officer Harish Arora, joined later by
Political and Commercial Affairs Head Sanjiv Kohli, shared
their perspective on Indian PM Manmohan Singh's November 9-11
visit to Qatar, where Singh met with Amir Hamid bin Khalifa
Al Thani and Prime Minister PM Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani.
According to Kohli, the Amir of Qatar had twice visited
India, in 1998 and 2005. Since the latter visit, an
invitation had been pending from the Amir for the Indian PM
to visit Doha. Kohli and Arora said the visit to Qatar, long
overdue, was the first by an Indian PM and aimed to solidify
the bilateral relationship.


2. (C) According to Kohli, an outcome of the 2005 visit by
the Amir to India was the establishment of a joint committee
to guide the development of relations between the two
countries. It never met. Kohli said combating this
"lethargy" in the relationship was the primary aim of the
visit. He added that as a result of the Singh's visit to
Doha, the joint committee formed in 2005 will soon begin
holding meetings. Arora noted that the secondary objective
of the visit was to broaden and deepen relationships in the
educational and commercial sectors. More than 400,000
Indians live in Qatar (the country's largest expatriate
community). Higher education costs in Qatar for Indian
residents are out of reach; most parents send their children
back to India for university. During the PM's visit,
discussions were held on establishing a "prestigious Indian
university presence" at Education City (where other
universities, including a handful from the U.S., are
located). The Qatar Foundation is considering India's
proposal.

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COMMERCE AND TRADE
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3. (C) Turning to commercial ties, Arora said only a couple
of Indian businessmen accompanied Singh to Doha, and no new
business deals were agreed on this trip. Singh made a push
for Qatari investment in India, especially in the
construction of infrastructure. Kohli added that the one
commercial take-away from the visit was an agreement for

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India to receive a trade delegation in January of potential
Qatari investors. Indian officials are now preparing a list
of projects to show the visitors in order to entice
investment, mainly in infrastructure. Kohli pointed out that
even in the absence of a political push from New Delhi, trade
between India and Qatar has grown by about 20 percent per
year in recent years. One tangible example of this growth is
that Qatar Airways now flies non-stop to 11 different Indian
destinations, with most flights lasting about three hours.


4. (C) Although Indian would have liked to have signed an
agreement in Doha increasing natural gas exports from Qatar
to India, Arora said it is clear that Qatar has no more gas
to offer. Everything is tied up in long-term contracts.
Nonetheless, he added that one goal of solidifying the
bilateral relationship is to lay the ground work for
additional natural gas shipments to India in the future, when
Qatar's supply capacity increases. Currently, according to
Arora, India imports 7.5 million tons of LNG per annum under
a 25-year agreement, signed in 1990.

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LABOR
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5. (C) Arora said resident Indians had been exerting pressure
for a visit by the PM after watching senior officials from
other big labor-supplying countries visit Qatar over recent
months to sign labor-related agreements. Perhaps the most
tangible result of Singh's visit for the Indian community was
an agreement to establish a security and law enforcement
database. The main advantage of the database is that it will
allow Qatari immigration officials to clear pending visa
applications from Indian nationals more quickly. In the
competition among labor supplying countries, this was no
small achievement. Arora hinted that Qatari officials, once
the database is up and running, will be able to check
criminal and other records of potential Indian workers
instantaneously, giving Indians an advantage in the work visa
competition.

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MILITARY
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6. (C) Asked about press reports noting a significant
military agreement, Arora said the agreement would pave the
way for military goodwill visits, exchanges of experts, and
training programs. He downplayed its significance as
reported by the press, implying that its major pillar --
maritime security cooperation -- was more symbolic than
substantive. Arora stressed that maritime security
cooperation may lead to joint naval exercises in the future,
but such exercises were a possibility, and not a reality, for
now.

LeBaron