Modi meets the Father Emir of Qatar

Doha, June 5 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called on the Father Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani here.

“Final bilateral engagement is an important meeting with the Father Emir of Qatar. PM Narendra Modi calls on him at Old Emiri Diwan,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.

Sheikh Hamad was the Emir of Qatar from 1995 till 2013.

Earlier on Sunday, India and Qatar signed seven agreements, including on investment and tourism following delegation level talks headed by Modi and Qatar Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani here.

Modi also attended a meeting of Qatari business leaders and invited them to invest in India.

Modi will interact with the Indian community here later in the day. Qatar is home to around 630,000 expatriate Indians -- comprising the single largest group of migrants in Qatar.

The Prime Minister, who arrived here on Saturday from Afghanistan on the second leg of his five-nation tour, visited a health camp organised for Indian workers here soon after his arrival.

He was later hosted for dinner by Qatari Prime Minister Abdullah Biv Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani.

Modi's is the first prime ministerial visit from India to energy-rich Qatar since the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's in 2008.

Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister to visit four countries in the Gulf region having visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Iran earlier.

On Sunday evening, Modi will depart for Switzerland on the third leg of his tour that will also take him to the US and Mexico.