India and Bahrain enjoy excellent bilateral relations. Relations are characterized by continuous and cordial political and cultural exchanges. Presence of nearly 400,000 Indian nationals out of a total of 1.3 million residents in Bahrain is an important aspect of India’s bilateral relations with Bahrain. There is a large degree of convergence between Bahrain and India on a range of international issues.

India has the following bilateral agreements with Bahrain:
• Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between Ministries of Foreign Affairs;
• Agreement on Juridical and Judicial Cooperation in Civil and Commercial Matters;
• Extradition Treaty;
• Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters
• Agreement on the Promotion and Protection of Bilateral Investment.
• Air Services Agreement
• Executive Programme on Cooperation  in Culture
• Agreement for Media Cooperation between Prasar Bharati and Bahrain Radio & TV Corporation.
• MoU on Labour and Manpower Development

As part of the regular high level exchanges between India and Bahrain, Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohamed Al-Khalifa, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain visited India on March 30, 2011. The Bahraini Foreign Minister met External Affairs Minister, Shri S.M. Krishna on 30th March 2011 and had detailed discussions on issues of mutual interest including recent developments in Bahrain and the region. The External Affairs Minister also hosted a lunch in honour of the visiting dignitary.

The Bahraini Foreign Minister conveyed the firm assurance of the Bahraini leadership about ensuring the safety and security of the Indian community numbering well over 400,000 and appreciated their contribution to the progress and development of Bahrain. External Affairs Minister thanked his counterpart for this reassurance with regard to the Indian community’s well-being and expressed confidence that the law-abiding Indian community would continue to be a partner in Bahrain’s growth story well into the future.

The Bahraini Foreign Minister briefed External Affairs Minister about the recent developments in the country. External Affairs Minister expressed the hope that the peaceful resolution of all issues through dialogue would pave the way for the continued economic development and prosperity of the friendly people of Bahrain.

Social Development Minister Dr.  Fatima Al Balooshi visited India in August 2008 and held talks with the Minister for Textiles, Mr. Shankar Singh Vaghela; MoS for Women & Child Development Ms. Renuka Chowdhary; Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises and Secretary, Department of Science & Technology. Dr. Al Balooshi also had discussions with Executive Director, Rashtriya Mahila Kosh, Director General, National Institute of Fashion Technology and officials of National bank for Agriculture & Rural Development and the Agriculture Finance Corporation Ltd.

The Bahraini Labour Minister Dr. Majeed Mohsin Al Alawi visited India on 25th April,’08. The sides held discussions on MOU on Manpower and initialed the same. Dr. Al Alawi said the MOU would further strengthen bilateral ties. Dr. Al Alawi said that relations between the two countries went beyond labour matters and there was need for every effort to take the historic and cultural relationship to new heights.  Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said that MOU would lay down necessary framework for labour mobility from India to Bahrain and would help save Indian workers from exploitation at various stages of their recruitment and employment in Bahrain.

          The Crown Prince (CP) Shaikh Salman visited India on March 19-22, 2007 at the invitation of Hon’ble Vice President of India Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. The CP was accompanied by Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid, Commerce & Industry Minister Dr. Hassan Fakhro and a high power 18-member business delegation. An agreement on Executive Programme for Cultural Cooperation between India and Bahrain for the period 2007-2010 and an Agreement for Media Cooperation between Prasar Bharati and Bahrain Radio & TV Corporation were signed on 20 March '07.  The CP inaugurated Bahraini Embassy on 21 March, 2007. CP also addressed a select gathering at ICWA. 

Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs & Civil Aviation Shri Vayalar Ravi visited Bahrain on 27 January 2011. He attended Republic Day Celebrations organized by Indian Community members and also interacted with a number of community members to understand their concerns.

Mr. Kapil Sibal, Hon’ble Minister of Human Resource Development visited Bahrain on 8-10 October, 2010 to take part in the ‘Bahrain Education Project 2010’ conference organised by the Economic Development Board. During his visit, he called on Labour Minister Dr. Majeed Al Alawi and discussed bilateral cooperation in education and vocational training. Hon’ble HRM extended an invitation to Dr. Alawi to visit India to further enhance joint work for the benefit of both countries and their peoples. He addressed a luncheon gathering organised by the Bahrain-India Society and also had an interaction session with stakeholders of CBSE affiliated schools at Bahrain & meeting with management of the Indian Schools. 

Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Hon’ble Minister of State for External Affairs of the Republic of India, paid an official visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain on 4-5 October 2009. Dr. Tharoor held meetings with Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain and Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohamed Al Khalifa, Foreign Minister.  During the bilateral discussions Bahrain reiterated its position that India’s Permanent Membership in the UNSC would be a stabilising influence in the whole region. It would also support India’s candidature for a Non-Permanent seat in the UNSC for 2011-12. India committed its support for Bahrain’s candidature for a Non-Permanent Seat in the UNSC in 2026-27. It was agreed that both sides would work for realising the visit of King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa to India at the earliest possible mutually convenient dates. It was also agreed to work towards enhancing the pace of negotiations for concluding Indo-GCC Free Trade Agreement..  

          Dr. Tharoor also held meetings with Mr. Hasan Abdullah Fakhro, Minister of Industry and Commerce, Dr. Majeed Al Alawi, Minister of Labour, Dr. Fatima Al Balooshi, Minister of Social Development and Dr. Nizar Al Baharna, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and discussed various issues of mutual interest.

          Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Shri Vayalar Ravi visited Bahrain from 16-18 July 2009. On 17 July, 2009 MOIA and Bahrain Labour Minister signed MoU on Labour and Manpower Development. MOIA also met and held discussions with Deputy Prime Minister Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa al Khalifa, Minister of Foreign Affairs Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed al Khalifa and Minister of Social Development Fatima Al Balooshi. During his meeting with Foreign Minister both sides reviewed the bilateral relations. Bahraini Foreign Minister praised the contributions by Indian nationals in the all round development of Bahrain. He also expressed his desire to visit India at the earliest. He also stated that Bahraini King also would like to visit India some time during the current year. Bahrain Social Development Minister and MOIA discussed the possibilities of cooperating in giving pre-departure and post-departure training for Indian nationals applying for jobs/working in Bahrain.

 India and Bahrain have enjoyed economic and trade relations for over several centuries.  Since the oil boom of the early seventies, these relations received fresh impetus.  Relative prosperity and higher standard of living in Bahrain boosted global imports of goods and services, including from India. Bahrain Government’s policy of industrial diversification also played its role in enhancing economic cooperation between the two countries. More than anything else, new job opportunities attracted a large number of Indian expatriates to Bahrain. The number of Indian expatriates in Bahrain is now estimated at under 400,000 and constituting more than one third of Bahrain’s population.

(Amount in Rs. Crores/$ Million)

Source : MOC, New Delhi March 2011

Source: NOGA, Kingdom of Bahrain. August 2011

India Bahrain Joint Committee on Economic & Technical Cooperation:  India and Bahrain signed an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement in April 1981 during the visit of the Amir to New Delhi. The first meeting of the JCETC in 1986, the second in Bahrain in 1991, the third session was held in New Delhi on 11-12 November 1998 and the fourth meeting was held in Bahrain on 14-15 November, 2007. In the fourth meeting Indian delegation was led by Shri E. Ahamed, Hon’ble Minister of State for External Affairs. The two sides looked at the possibility of cooperation in areas of petroleum, aluminium, chemicals, shipping, finance and hospitality. The issues of cooperation in financial sector including Avoidance of Double Taxation, health, IT, civil aviation, manpower, education, information and culture and youth and sports were also discussed.

Joint Business Council:  A Joint Business Council (JBC) was set up on 12 October 1994. The first meeting was held in Bahrain in 1996. The second meeting was held on 17-24 February 2001 in India where a 21-member high-level trade delegation visited India. FICCI made a number of presentations to the Bahraini delegations on sectors relating to information technology, food industry, telecommunications and small & medium industries. The delegation also had a number of one-to-one meetings with prospective Indian entrepreneurs both for exports as well as setting up joint ventures in Bahrain.

ESC-EDB Information Technology Agreement: In May 2001, a 15-member delegation led by the Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) from India visited Bahrain and signed an MoU with the Bahrain's Economic Development Board (EDB) - the nodal agency for development of IT sector in the country. The MoU envisages a wide gamut of activities, which include business development, organising training programmes, seminars and workshops.  The EDB delegation during its visit to India in January 2002, signed two MoUs with National Small Industries Corporation of India and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industries for development of SMEs and IT & Telecom sectors.  EDB also opened its branch office in Bangalore during that visit.

Bahrain India Society: A group of India friendly businessmen led by former Labour Minister of Bahrain Abdul Nabi Al Sho’ala founded Bahrain India Society, which was formally inaugurated by Bahrain Foreign Minister on 21 December 2008. The Society’s objectives are (i) forging closer ties of friendship and understanding between the peoples of the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Republic of India (ii) co-operation between the two countries in the economic, cultural, sports and scientific fields and (iii) to develop friendship and co-operation between the residents who are nationals of the Republic of India and the people of Bahrain in the social, cultural and sports fields.  The Society’s Patron is Ambassador and Mr. Abdulnabi Alsho’ala, a former Bahraini Minister, is the Chairman of the Society.