MANAMA: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday called on Bahrain 's Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa and co-chaired the second joint commission meeting with her counterpart to discuss ways to further strengthen bilateral ties.

Swaraj arrived here on Saturday on a two-day visit.

She began her engagements here today by meeting her counterpart and a close friend of India Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa.

The two leaders co-chaired 2nd India-Bahrain High Joint Commission.

The first meeting of the High Joint Commission (HJC) was held in New Delhi in February 2015.

Shaikh Khalid praised the contribution of the Indian community settled in Bahrain towards the economic development of the Gulf Kingdom.

The Indian community of about 3,50,000-4,00,000 people forms nearly one-fourth of Bahrain's population.

Swaraj later called on Prime minister Khalifa bin Salman and held discussions on consolidating the "valuable" bilateral relationship.

During the visit, she also gifted a box of books called 'Bharat ek Priychay' to the National Library in Manama.

"The symbolic box, with books on many aspects of India, will serve as a reference point for local people keen to know more about India," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

