Your Excellency
President Alexander Lukashenku
Friends,
Members of the media
I am delighted to welcome President Lukashenku to India. His visit comes as
both countries mark 25 years of our diplomatic relationship this year.
We have earlier had the pleasure of receiving President Lukashenku in India in
1997 and in 2007. During this visit, I hope Your Excellency will get a chance
to see and experience the transformations taking place in India.
Our discussions today were wide-ranging and forward-looking. They were marked
by the warmth of our ties over two and a half decades. We exchanged views on
bilateral issues and on regional and global developments. We reviewed the
architecture of our partnership. We considered ideas and initiatives for
further expanding it. We decided to enhance our interaction in all aspects of
cooperation.
I found in President Lukashenku matching enthusiasm and desire to scale up our
partnership for the benefit of our people.
To this end, we will work to diversify economic linkages. The focuswill be to
build upon the natural complementarity between us.
Our companies have to evolve from a buyer-seller framework to deeper
engagement. There are abundant business and investment opportunities in
Pharmaceuticals, oil & gas, heavy machinery and equipment. Last year,
Indian companies made a positive beginning with three joint ventures in
pharmaceuticals.
Possibilities for partnership also exist in manufacturing of tyres,
agro-industrial machinery, and mining equipment. Similarly, in heavy-duty
construction machinery India has a growing demand and Belarus has industrial
strengths.
We will also encourage joint development and manufacturing in defence sector
under the Make In India programme. We have also progressed our discussion on
utilising the US$ 100 million line of credit that India had offered in 2015 in
specific projects in Belarus.
India is linked with Belarus under
multilateral economic initiatives such as the EurAsian Economic Union (EEU) and
the International North South Transport Corridor. India is negotiating a Free
Trade Agreement with the EEU.
Friends,
Science and technology is another area of focus for stronger cooperation.
Belarus is a long-time partner in this field.
Innovation and commercialisation will be given due eMphasis in fields like
metallurgy & materials, nano-materials, biological & medical sciences,
and chemical & engineering sciences. We envisage participation of our youth
in this process.
We are exploring the setting up of a Technology demonstration Centre in India
to showcase Belarusian technology.
Another dimension of India’s partnership with Belarus lies in development
cooperation. Belarus is an active participant in Indian technical and Economic
Cooperation programme.
In international forums, our two countries have close cooperation and common
approaches on matters of mutual interest.
India and Belarus will continue extending mutual support for each other in
multilateral fora.
Friends,
President Lukashenku and I discussed the rich history of cultural interactions
between our people, which has nurtured goodwill. I was pleased to learn that
many Belarusians take active interest in Indian culture, cuisine, films, music,
dance, Yoga and Ayurveda.
I see great potential to enhance our tourism and people-to-people exchanges so
as to build an even stronger foundation for our relations.
In closing, I want to thank President Lukashenku for being our honoured guest.
India will work closely with Belarus in the coming days and months to implement
today’s consensus and outcomes. I wish President Lukashenku a memorable stay in
India.
I thank you.
****
AKT/HS/SK
