New Delhi: India and Qatar have signed a bilateral air services agreement to improve connectivity and have also decided to boost multi-faceted ties between the two countries.

The Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel and the Finance Minister of Qatar, Yousef Hussain Kamal, in the presence of the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh and the visiting Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, signed the agreement.

The Emir is on a three-day visit to India. The Emir of Qatar said that Qatar is keen to expand cooperation in a variety of sectors, including oil and natural gas. Addressing the industry leaders representing Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Assocham, here on Wednesday evening, he said, "We look forward to deepening cooperation between Qatar and India in the fields of oil, natural gas, petrochemicals, steel and other strategic industries that are important for the two countries."

The visiting dignitary said that Qatar was encouraging its private sector to participate in the stock market and direct investments in India. He also hoped that the present cooperation between the two countries would be accompanied by deeper thinking about the future, since it would be of great benefit to the people of both countries.

The Emir said that the project of exporting Qatar gas to India was the first LNG founding project between the developing countries, which has managed to withstand many challenges, due to the joint will on both sides.

He announced that negotiations were under way between RasGas Company and Petronet for the second phase of export of 2.5 mt to Kochi.

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