India, Bahrain agree to set-up high Joint commission to boost bilateral ties

India and Bahrain have signed an agreement to set up a high Joint Commission for boosting bilateral cooperation between the two countries, India's foreign ministry said Wednesday. The ministry said the new agreement to establish a High Joint Commission will replace the existing Joint Committee for the Technical and Economic Cooperation (established in 1981). The High Joint Commission is to be chaired by the respective Foreign Ministers and will serve as an umbrella framework for all bilateral cooperation between the two countries, the ministry added. The agreement was signed during the current visit of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain. The King, along with a high level official delegation, arrived in India on Tuesday evening on a three-day state visit. The two countries also signed an agreement for promoting cooperation between the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) of the Ministry of External Affairs of India and the Diplomatic Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain. This will include exchange of information on structure and content of training programmes, exchange of trainees, students, faculty members, experts and researchers, between the two institutions, the ministry said. The Indian foreign ministry said India and Bahrain had close and friendly relations, adding, that "Bahrain is an important trading partner for India with our non-oil bilateral trade in 2012-13 exceeding USD 1.3 billion". It further stated that over 350,000 Indian nationals work and contribute to the development of Bahrain.