Indian Council of World Affairs

The Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), in collaboration with Global Institute for Strategic Research (GISR), Doha organised a Seminar on India-Qatar Relations on 27 February 2025 at Sapru House. The Seminar focused on India-Qatar perspectives on a changing world order, regional issues and bilateral ties. A four-member delegation from GISR visited ICWA for the seminar. ICWA delegation was led by DDG ICWA, Shri L Prashant Pise and GISR delegation was led by Executive Director, GISR Ambassador Mohamed Ali Chihi. It was noted in the opening remarks that India and Qatar are historic partners and there is a need to take this partnership further. 

The first session of the Seminar, focused on India-Qatar bilateral relations with emphasis on energy, trade and investment, India-Qatar soft diplomacy, culture, expatriates and people to people ties. The session was chaired by Dr Logan Cochrane, Associate Professor, College of Public Policy, Hamad bin Khalifa University and the speakers from GISR were Mr Muhammad al Mahmeed, Head of International Cooperation, Qatar tourism and Mr. Mudassar Ali Baig, Research Fellow, GISR. Speakers from ICWA were Mr Atul Aneja, Former Editor, India Narrative and Dr Lakshmi Priya, Research Fellow, ICWA. The two sides emphasized on the existing ties between the two countries and stressed the need for providing momentum to the ties through focusing on culture and people to people connect. The participants also agreed that tourism is an important area with potential for cooperation. Apart from that, the two sides expressed satisfaction with the growing economic ties between the two countries and discussed the possibilities of cooperating in areas beyond hydrocarbons. 

The second session of the Seminar focused on the perspectives from India and Qatar on the changing global and regional dynamics. The session was chaired by Ambassador Sanjay Singh, former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs of India  and the speakers from ICWA were Professor Chintamani Mahapatra, Founder Kalinga Institute of Indo-Pacific Studies, Dr Md. Muddassir Quamar, Associate Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Dr Anwesha Ghosh, Research Fellow, ICWA. The speakers from GISR were Dr Logan Cochrane and Dr Chris Doyle, Director, Council for Arab-British Understanding (virtual mode). The session focused on the changing global order and rise of a multipolar world, changing regional dynamics, significance of Abraham accords, perceptions on Gaza war and Syria, impact of the Yemen crisis, need for reconstruction of Syria and the evolving situation in Afghanistan. The two sides discussed the vitality of a multipolar world order and India’s emergence as a top economic power. The possibility for Qatar to be part of IMEC was also discussed in the session. Further the session also threw light on the increasing use of coding, chatbot, humanoids and robotics in various fields.   

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