New Delhi, May 29 (IANS): India and Bahrain, home to nearly 350,000 Indian nationals working in the Gulf, are set to scale up strategic and economic ties during Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa's three-day visit to India that begins Wednesday.
Bahrain's crown prince will be accompanied by senior ministers, officials and a large business delegation.
"The visit of the Crown Prince is expected to provide further impetus to our multifaceted engagement with the Kingdom of Bahrain," the external affairs ministry said here Tuesday.
This is the second visit of Prince Salman to India.
During his visit, Prince Salman is expected to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, President Pratibha Devisingh Patil, Vice President Hamid Ansari and External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna.
The crown prince begins his visit to India from Mumbai where he is expected to pitch for expanding trade and investment between India and Bahrain. Bilateral trade has been steadily growing and touched $1.5 billion during 2010-11.
Around 120 Indian firms have set up operations in Bahrain, which has positioned itself as a gateway to over $1 trillion Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) market.
In Mumbai, he will also will meet Maharashtra Governor K. Sankaranarayanan.