Swaraj holds wide-ranging talks with her Bahrain counterpart

Manama: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday held wide-ranging talks with her Bahraini counterpart Shaikh Khalid during which they discussed ways to expand cooperation in a number of fields including tourism, oil and gas, petrochemicals, security, defence and intelligence training.
Swaraj, who is visiting Bahrain for the third time, co-chaired with Shaikh Khalid the second meeting of the India-Bahrain High Joint Commission. The first meeting of the Commission was held in New Delhi in February, 2015.
“The wide-ranging discussions were held in a friendly and forward-looking atmosphere, with useful exchanges of views on bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest,” said a joint statement issued after the meeting.
The two sides discussed in detail various aspects of bilateral relations. These included ways and means to expand cooperation in the fields of education, health, housing, renewable energy, space cooperation, tourism, culture, youth and sports, women empowerment, customs, oil and gas and petrochemicals, security, defence and intelligence training and exchange of expertise, it said.
They also discussed ways to enhance the cooperation between universities in both countries and the possible exchange of researchers and faculty members in the fields of food security, cyber space and energy; as well as enhancing cooperation in the field of information sharing within the framework of existing Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Information Affairs and the Indian news agency, the joint statement said.
They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest, including recent developments in the Gulf, Middle East, West and South Asia. (PTI)