India has assured its support to Bahrain at international forums while Bahrain says ties with India are at its best. The warm sentiments between the two countries were shared at the meeting of the Union Minister of State for External Affairs, E. Ahamed and his Bahraini counterpart, Ghanem Al Buainain in Manama yesterday. Mr. Ahamed appreciated the role of the Bahrain Government for the hospitality and the freedom enjoyed by over 350,000 strong Indian community living in the kingdom. The Bahrain state foreign minister said that the ongoing Bahrain India exhibition would pave the way for more investment flow from India to Bahrain. Our West Asia correspondent reports that Bahrain India Trade and Investment co-operation Conference is a part of the process to expand India-GCC trade ties from the existing $160 billion out of which bilateral trade with Bahrain is around $2 billion. The two countries are now exploring partnerships, collaborations and joint ventures to enhance bilateral trade and economic co-operation. The focus at the ongoing exhibition is on information and communications technology (ICT), healthcare and pharma as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The visiting CII delegation says that Bahraini firms, specially SMEs can gain a lot through partnerships and joint ventures. Indian firms can offer cost-effective and high-quality solutions that are appropriate to the market. A high level Ministerial delegation from Bahrain will visit India later this year to follow up on the deliberations.