Ambassador of India to Qatar H E Vipul
Doha, Qatar: India has praised Qatar’s pivotal diplomatic efforts in helping secure an understanding between the United States and Iran to end the ongoing conflict in West Asia, said Ambassador of India to Qatar H E Vipul.
“India has welcomed the understanding reached between the US and Iran on ending the conflict in West Asia. We deeply appreciate the central and constructive role of mediation played by Qatar in getting the parties involved to come to an agreement to end the current hostilities,” said the Ambassador in a statement issued yesterday.
He said that this was yet another manifestation of Qatar’s principled stand in favour of dialogue and diplomacy for resolving conflicts peacefully.
“We had also seen the same success achieved by Qatar in achieving the Gaza ceasefire last year through sustained efforts. This is a testament to the wisdom and persistence of Qatar under the leadership of Amir of Qatar H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani,” said Vipul.
He said that even though Qatar suffered damages to its energy, civilian and military infrastructure in the early phases of the current conflict it continued to unflinchingly advocate a resolution of issues in accordance with international law and through the United Nations.
At the same time, the Ambassador said, it worked tirelessly with different countries to push the negotiations between US and Iran to a successful conclusion. Given Qatar’s diplomatic acumen, experience and credibility in mediation in international conflicts, and its deep equities in the region and with the parties to the conflict, success was guaranteed after Qatar’s active involvement.
He said that since the current conflict started on February 28 this year, it disrupted global economy not only in the field of energy but also a large number of other goods and commodities. “The impact on India was also significant even though we managed to retain our economic growth momentum. India imports almost 20% of its LNG consumption from Qatar and about 10% LPG consumption. We also import fertilisers, helium and other petrochemical items from Qatar. These were all stopped due to the closing of the Strait of Hormuz,” said Vipul.
He said that India’s exports of food items, electronics, jewelry, automobiles, engineering goods and other items to Qatar also suffered because of maritime trade disruption due to the closing of Strait of Hormuz.
“This situation also applied to India’s trade with other countries in the GCC. We hope that the implementation of the understanding between US and Iran will swiftly ensure the freedom of navigation and commerce. This is a perspective that both India and Qatar have consistently emphasised since the Strait of Hormuz was blocked,” said Vipul.
The Ambassador added: “I also wish to take this opportunity for thanking Qatar for looking after the Indian community during the past few challenging months. There was never any shortage of essential supplies and the advisories issued by Qatari authorities were really helpful in reassuring people.”
In the coming months, he said: “We look forward to deliberations on the remaining issues reaching a sustainable final agreement so that peace and stability is restored in the entire Gulf region with which India has ties spanning history and civilization. It can be anticipated that Qatar will continue to have a very important diplomatic role in the negotiations going forward. India will always stand by Qatar in its quest for regional and global peace.”
