India and Bahrain, on 31 May 2012 inked a Tax Information Exchange
Agreement to promote economic cooperation and joint investment between
the two countries. The agreement is aimed at increasing bilateral trade
that stands at 1.7 billion dollar. The agreement with its provision for
effective exchange of information between the two countries, will help
in reducing tax evasion and tax avoidance.
The agreement was signed by Indian Minister of State for Finance Namo
Narain Meena and Bahrain’s Minister of Transportation and Acting Chief
Executive of Economic Development Board Kamal Ahmed in New Delhi. The
Bahrain delegation was led by Prince Salman Bin HamadAl-Khalifa, the
Crown Prince of Bahrain and chairman of the Bahrain Economic Development
Board.
The two countries also inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to
make the ties on technological front more effective. Under the newly
signed MoU India will provide technical assistance to Bahrain and help
it to develop its own IT sector in Bahrain.
Besides Tax Information Exchange Agreement, several other commercial
and economic cooperation agreements were also signed. A memorandum of
understanding (MoU) to develop business and commercial was signed
between the industrial bodies of two countries.
The two countries historically enjoy an intimate and friendly
relation with each other. Indian diaspora constitutes nearly a quarter
of Bahrain’s entire 1.2 million population.
