ArmInfo.Good contacts have been established between the ministries of defense of Armenia and India, and military-technical cooperation has been developing between them gradually. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan stated this in an interview with the Indian WION to clarify what can be expected from the Armenian-Indian defense relations.
In this vein, he recalled that Armenia participated in a number of exhibitions in India. " Our defence ministries have established good contacts and military-technical cooperation has been developing between them gradually. Armenia has participated in several defence expositions in India. It is without a doubt that in recent years India has made rapid advances in defence technologies and industry which is of course very interesting for the Armenian defence sector. I believe our specialists should explore the opportunities for further cooperation," he said.
When asked to assess the current level of relations between Armenia and India, Mirzoyan recalled: " This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and India. Although our state-to-state relations are only 30 years old, it is well known that Armenian and Indian peoples have a centuries-old rich history of close interaction that has developed into mutual sympathy and friendly relations.
The Armenians have had a strong presence in Agra, Surat, Chennai, Kolkata and other commercial centres since the 16th century. They have thrived here in the initial era of globalisation and now our heritage in India coming from that era is preserved with care, which we highly appreciate.
It should be mentioned also that we have a strong community of Indian students and businessmen studying and working in Armenia. The Embassy of India and the Indian Cultural Center in Armenia are doing a great job to bring our countries, peoples, and businesses closer so that our citizens could further benefit from the development of our ties.
Our countries have tremendous potential in promoting cooperation in areas of mutual interest, particularly underlining the spheres of high technology, transportation, food production, healthcare, pharmaceutical industry, tourism, culture and defence. Last but not the least, our countries have quite close interests regarding regional and international issues. We highly appreciate India's continuous support towards the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship.
In general, Armenia values the balanced and stabilizing position of India in these times of global turmoil. India is an important pillar of global and regional stability and a major power that rightly aspires for more role in international affairs and is perceived by many as a force for good.
Having all these factors in mind, the Government of Armenia considers further strengthening of cooperation with India, the world's largest democracy, as one of its strategic priorities," Armenian Foreign Minister said.
When asked to tell about the main purpose of the visit to India, Mirzoyan noted, in part: "Our meeting with Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Dushanbe last year gave a new impetus to our bilateral relations. Following it, Minister Jaishankar paid a landmark visit to Armenia last fall, and a roadmap of wider engagement ranging from political dialogue to solid multidimensional collaboration was elaborated during that visit. Since then, concrete steps have been undertaken in regard of the implementation of the road map. Accepting the invitation to participate in the "Raisina Dialogue" forum, which by the way has received special, global attention this year, gave a good opportunity to continue our dialogue and together with Minister Jaishankar evaluate the work already done and outline new ambitious milestones.
Additionally, during this visit special emphasis was made on the promotion of economic cooperation between our countries, given the fact that our delegation was accompanied by representatives from leading Armenian businesses. We participated in the Armenian- Indian business forums in New Delhi and Mumbai. Such events and continuous B2B contacts will bring our business circles closer to each other.
Now the next step will be the session of the Armenian-Indian Intergovernmental Commission which we are going to host in Armenia this summer. As one can notice this is quite an impressive dynamic," Mirzoyan concluded.
