Friday, 7 October 2005
Today RA Prime Minister A. Margaryan has received Vice-President of India Bharion Singh Shekhavat.
By mentioning the present high level of the Armenian-Indian relationship, which is propped up by centuries-long traditions of friendship between the two countries and peoples, the parties have expressed themselves for their further expansion and development. The Prime Minister highly valued the efforts of the Indian government towards peace and stability promotion all over the world. He said that our country was interested in the deepening of partnership ties with India as the latter went on buildng up its presence on international markets year after year owing to impresive growth indicators. At the same time, according to him, Armenia could in its turn be a stronghold for Indias expansion in the region and towards Europe as it had been the case in the historical past. In this context, Mr. A. Margaryan stated the interest taken by Armenia in the North-South transport corridor, as well as in the possibility of establishment of a "free trade" regime for transit transportations.
Prime Minister A. Margaryan and Vice-President Bharion Singh Shekhavat valued the current activity of the Armenian-Indian intergovernmental commission with respect to the development of bilateral trade and economic relationship and strengthening of direct ties between the business circles, in particular. The head of the Armenian government expressed his appreciation to the government of India for the USD5MN grant extended to Armenia for the implementation of joint agricultural programs, as well as for the facility provided to Armenian specialists for participation in the training courses held under the ITEC program. Pleased with the achievements made in the Armenian-Indian educational cooperation and considering the increased volume of student exchanges between the two countries, the Prime Minister stressed the importance of expedited discussions over the agreement on the reciprocal acknowledgement of graduation ceritficates. Closer to the end of the meeting, Vice-President Bharion Singh Shekhavat extended an invitation to RA Prime Minister to visit India at a convenient for him time.
The meeting was preceded by the signing on the part of RA Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Gegham Gharibjanyan and Indian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Deepak Vohra of a protocol on the exchange of ratification letters under the agreements on amity and cooperation between the Republic of Armenia Armenia and the Republic of India. Vice-President Bharion Singh Shekhavat handed over to Prime Minister A. Margaryan the document certifying the shipment of the first 60 tractors out of the 300 due to be delivered to the government of Armenia by the Indian government.
