New Delhi [India], November 3 (ANI): Bahrain's Foreign Minister Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Alzayani arrived in India on Monday to co-chair the 5th India-Bahrain High Joint Commission meeting with External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal shared the update on X, writing, 'Warm welcome to FM Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Alzayani of the Kingdom of Bahrain. He will be co-chairing the 5th India-Bahrain High Joint Commission meeting with EAM Dr S Jaishankar. This visit offers an opportunity to build on the positive momentum in India-Bahrain relations.'

During his visit, the Bahrain Foreign Minister will meet with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. He will depart from India on Monday.

https://x.com/MEAIndia/status/1985035967821181129

Abdullatif Bin Rashid Alzayani's visit to further strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries comes after S Jaishankar's visit to Bahrain in December of last year.

During last year's visit, S Jaishankar co-chaired the fourth meeting of the India-Bahrain High Joint Commission (HJC).

The two sides also agreed to expand the scope of bilateral cooperation in the education sector. In this regard, the Indian side welcomed more Bahraini students wishing to enrol in leading higher education institutes in India. The two sides also stressed the importance of working to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between the two governments to enhance education cooperation.

Both sides also agreed to deepen cooperation on consular issues. They welcomed the decision to establish a Joint Consular Committee to discuss issues of mutual interest in Consular affairs and to strengthen cooperation in these areas.

The Indian side acknowledged that the bilateral security dialogue and the Joint Steering Committee (JSC) in the field of combating international terrorism are important mechanisms in institutionalising cooperation in the area of security cooperation, including Cybersecurity.

The meeting also marked the continued expansion of cultural exchanges, with both nations agreeing to renew their Cultural Exchange Program and work on new initiatives to foster deeper ties.

India and Bahrain enjoy excellent bilateral relations characterised by cordial political, economic, cultural and people-to-people contacts. The presence of close to 332,000 Indian nationals, who comprise nearly a quarter of the total population of 1.5 million in Bahrain, is an important anchor of our bilateral relations. (ANI)