Manama: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday met the Crown Prince of Bahrain, Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and discussed ways to strengthen the friendship between India and Bahrain, with a focus on business relations and cultural exchange.

Modi's visit to Bahrain is significant as it is the first visit of an Indian Prime Minister to the country.

"PM @narendramodi met the Crown Prince of Bahrain Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. Had a good discussion on taking our relationship to a higher level," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet.

"Prime Minister @narendramodi met Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince of Bahrain. They discussed ways to strengthen the friendship between India and Bahrain, especially business relations and cultures exchanges," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted.

Prime Minister Modi was honoured with "The King Hamad Order of the Renaissance" on Saturday as he held talks with King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on various bilateral and regional issues.

Modi is on the third leg of his three-nation tour to France, the UAE and Bahrain.

He arrived here after wrapping up his visit to the UAE where he held talks with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and discussed measures to improve trade and cultural ties between the two countries.

Modi was also honoured with the 'Order of Zayed', the UAE's highest civilian award, as a mark of appreciation for his efforts to boost bilateral ties between the two nations.

From Bahrain, Modi is scheduled to return to France on Sunday to attend the G7 Summit meeting.

 

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Ahmedabad, Apr 25: The Gujarat Congress on Friday suspended from the party for six years its Surat Lok Sabha candidate Nilesh Kumbhani, whose nomination form was rejected over discrepancies leading to the BJP's Mukesh Dalal getting elected unopposed.

A statement from the Congress said the party's disciplinary committee decided to suspend Kumbhani after thorough discussion, adding it had come to the conclusion that the nomination form was rejected due to gross negligence on his part or "in connivance with the BJP".

"To be fair to you we have given time to you to explain your case but instead of coming before the party disciplinary committee you have gone incommunicado. After your form was rejected by the authorities, BJP went ahead and got form of other eight candidates withdrawn. This has deprived people of Surat their voting rights," the Congress disciplinary committee headed by Balu Patel said.

"People of Surat and party workers have become very angry due to your action and are expressing their anger in different ways. The Congress party has decided to suspend you for six years from the party," the press note said.

Kumbhani's nomination form was rejected on April 21 after his three proposers submitted affidavits to the district returning officer claiming the signatures on the document was not theirs.

The nomination form of Suresh Padsala, the Congress' substitute candidate from Surat, was also invalidated on the same grounds.

In his order, Returning Officer Sourabh Pardhi said the three nomination forms submitted by Kumbhani and Padsala were rejected after prima facie discrepancy was found in the signatures of the proposers and they did not appear to be genuine.

Kumbhani, a former corporator from Surat, had unsuccessfully fought the 2022 Assembly polls from Kamrej there.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's Mukesh Dalal was elected unopposed from Surat Lok Sabha constituency on April 22 after all other nominees, including one from BSP, withdrew from the fray one by one on the last day of withdrawing papers.