Dear Sir,

Each and every Indian living in Qatar is immensely proud of the recent progress made in the relations between Qatar and India. There have especially been three exciting developments, reported in the last few weeks. First, it has been  announced that QNB, Qatar’s largest bank, is starting operations in India. This has been followed by the news that India’s Taj Hotel Group is seriously considering plans to make its imprint in Qatar’s lucrative market. And the third report has officials saying that  plans are afoot to issue visas to Indians on arrival in Doha. 
These three developments highlight the rapid progress achieved by India and Qatar in their relations. History reveals the strong ties between these two nations on various fronts; now new areas are being identified to strengthen their bonds further for generating mutual  benefits. 
Issuance of visas to Indians on arrival is an innovative and creative idea that will go a long way in improving Qatar’s tourism sector. This step will take economic relations between the two countries to new heights. Here again, Qatar is a front-runner among  the GCC nations. 
As a reciprocal gesture, the Indian government too must consider issuance of visas to Qataris on arrival in India and welcome them with open hands and hearts for greater business, cultural and social interactions.

V Kalyanaraman
gurukrupakalyan7@yahoo.com

Oil price stability 
Dear Sir,
The oil prices underwent some drastic changes over the last two years. Prices have dropped by more than half. The market is flooded with more oil than the actual demand. Technically we call this phenomenon a glut. On account of this, some major economies are facing tough times. They have reduced their capital expenditure, widened the current account deficit and started rationalising the number of jobs in the government sector. 
At the same time, this has helped some consumer countries to accumulate their foreign exchange reserves, narrow current account deficit and increase the capital expenditure. 
The fierce competition among oil producers for market share is likely to ensure price stability at the current level. 

Girish R Edathitta
(e-mail address supplied)