Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar departed for an official 2-day visit to Qatar to represent India at the inauguration of the FIFA World Cup 2022.

The Vice President was accompanied by his spouse Dr Sudesh Dhankhar and an official delegation.

Dhankhar is visiting Qatar at the invitation of Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar.

The Vice President's visit would be an opportunity to join a close and friendly country Qatar as it hosts a major sporting event and also to acknowledge the role played and support extended by Indians in this World Cup.

During his visit, besides attending the inaugural ceremony on Sunday, the Vice President will also interact with the members of the Indian community.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a statement said, "India and Qatar enjoy close and friendly relations with multifaceted partnership extending to areas of trade, energy, security, defence, health, culture, education, among others. In the last financial year, bilateral trade crossed US USD 15 billion.

It may be mentioned that 32 teams will be eyeing glory in the FIFA World Cup this once-in-every-four-years football that will kick-start in Qatar on Sunday.

The teams are hosts Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, the Netherlands, England, Iran, USA, Wales, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland, France, Australia, Denmark, Tunisia, Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, Japan, Belgium, Canada, Morocco, and Croatia, Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon, Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay and South Korea.

Qatar and Ecuador will lock horns in the campaign opener from 9:30 PM IST onwards.