Qatar, India agree to integrate employment portals

The "Qatari-Indian" joint working group in the field of employment held its seventh meeting on May 4-5 in the Indian capital, New Delhi.

Qatar and India have agreed to adopt an integrated approach to enhance the welfare of workers, including regulating the recruitment process, and strengthening cooperation to resolve issues of common concern, within a specific time frame. In this regard, they also agreed to work to integrate employment portals.

The meeting was chaired from the Qatari side by Mohammed Hassan Al Obaidli, Assistant Undersecretary for Labor Affairs at the Ministry of Labour, and from the Indian side by Anurag Bhushans, Assistant Undersecretary for Indian Expatriates Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Qatari side also praised the contribution of the Indian community to social development and infrastructure projects in Qatar, stressing Qatar's commitment to protecting and promoting labour rights.

The Qatari and Indian sides had fruitful discussions on a wide range of issues related to the movement of labour and manpower. In this context, the Indian side welcomed the labour reform measures taken by Qatar during the past years.

In a related context, the Qatari delegation met with V Murali Dharan, Minister of State for External Affairs of the Republic of India, and Dr Awsaf Saeed, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Consular Affairs, Passports, Visas and Indian Expatriates Affairs.

The Qatari delegation also visited the National Skill Development Corporation in New Delhi and its centres, where they exchanged ideas between the two sides on developing cooperation in the field of skills training and certification.

The Qatari delegation also held discussions with representatives of the Kerala Non-Resident Affairs Department of the Government of the Indian state of Kerala (NORKA). The two sides agreed to hold the next meeting of the joint working group in Qatar.