New Delhi, Jan 24 (IANS) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday called on Bahraini Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman al Khalifa in Manama.
“After meeting the King & the Foreign Minister, EAM also called on PM Prince Khalifa bin Salman al Khalifa in Manama,” external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted.
Sushma Swaraj met the prime minister after attending the first ever ministerial meeting of the India-Arab Partnership Conference in the Bahraini capital which was attended by foreign ministers of the 22 Arab League member states.
On Saturday, after arriving in Manama, she called on Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa in Manama.
She also held bilateral talks with her Bahraini counterpart Shaikh Khalid Al Khalifa on Saturday following which an agreement to exchange their citizens lodged in the prisons of each other’s country was signed.
Nearly 300,000 Indians form the largest expatriate community in Bahrain. A majority of them are blue-collar workers.
The erstwhile ministry of overseas Indian affairs, now merged with the external affairs ministry, had started the process of exchange of prisoners, according to which Indians lodged in jails in the Gulf countries could complete the rest of their prison terms in Indian jails and vice-versa.
On Sunday, prior to leaving Bahrain, Sushma Swaraj also met her Saudi counterpart Adel el Jubeir, Swarup said in another tweet.