India and Bahrain inked Tax Information Exchange Agreement

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.