Jaishankar begins tour of three west Asia countries, to meet top leadership

NEW DELHI:  External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will visit Bahrain, the UAE and Seychelles from November 24 to 29 where he will meet the top leadership of the countries.

“Jaishankar’s visit to Bahrain on November 24-25 will be his first visit to the country as minister. He will personally convey condolences on behalf of Government and people of India to the Bahraini leadership on the demise of Prime Minister of Bahrain HH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa on November 11. He will also hold talks on bilateral issues as well as regional and international issues of mutual interest. Bahrain hosts more than 350,000 Indians and both countries have worked together to face the Covid-19 pandemic,” a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said. 

In the  the UAE, he is scheduled to meet his foreign counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan on November 26.

“Both leaders will take forward the excellent cooperation between India and the UAE under our comprehensive strategic partnership and exchange views on various regional and international issues. He will also discuss ways for Indian workers to resume their jobs in the UAE in the post-Covid scenario,” the statement added. 

In the last leg of his tour, Jaishankar will travel to Seychelles on November 27-28 where he will call on newly elected President Wavel Ramkalawan to present greetings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discuss with him the priorities of the new government and avenues for further strengthening India-Seychelles bilateral relations.

EAM will also hold bilateral consultations with Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism Sylvestre Radegonde.

India to build new dam in Afghanistan

Jaishankar on Tuesday announced a deal with the Afghanistan government for the Shatoot dam and also phase four of the high impact development projects in the country.

“India had just concluded with Afghanistan an agreement for the construction of the Shatoot dam, which would provide safe drinking water to 2 million residents of Kabul city. India had earlier built the 202-km Phul-e-Khumri transmission line that provided electricity to Kabul,” the MEA said.