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Indian Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh |
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New Delhi:
India and Turkey on Tuesday held delegation level talks in the
capital in which the two sides discussed bilateral, regional and
global issues of mutual interest.
Prime
Minister Dr. Singh on this occasion told visiting Turkish President
Abdullah Gul that his visit to India, so soon after the visit of
Prime Minister Erdogan in November 2008, was an important milestone
“to review the state of our bilateral relations and to chart a
forward-looking agenda for advancing our multi-faceted cooperation.”
“We believe
that our relations stand on their own footing, and should be
progressed in that spirit,” the PM said and pointed out that despite
having several frameworks and mechanisms for bilateral cooperation
and two-way trade crossing US $3 billion in 2008, the relations are
far below their true potential and that we are ready for a much
deeper and robust partnership with Turkey.
Dr. Singh
in this context referred to the Joint Study Group for a Compressive
Free Trade Agreement that held its first meeting in New Delhi in
January 2010.
Hailing the
increased participation of Turkish companies in infrastructural
projects in India, Dr. Singh called for expanding cooperation in
areas such as science & technology, culture, education and tourism.
While
President Abdullah Gul on this occasion said that the two countries
were rediscovering each other and that the frequent high-level
exchanges, including his own visit, was a reflection of the
political will to work closely with India on political, economic,
science & technology and cultural fronts.
President
Gul underlined that the special relationship between Turkey and
Pakistan did not, in any way, create obstructions for Turkey-India
relations, which Turkey intends to carry forward.
The two
sides discussed recent developments relating to Afghanistan.
President
Gul recognized that India’s contribution to Afghanistan is very
important and expressed the desire to work together with India in
bringing stability to that country.
Gul wished
to avoid any misunderstanding relating to a recent meeting in
Istanbul on Afghanistan, which emerged from a trilateral format
involving Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey.
He said
that Turkey would have liked India to be there and hoped that India
would be able to participate in yet another meeting relating to
developments in Afghanistan that would be hosted in Turkey later
this year.
During
detailed discussions on enhancing cooperation in different areas,
the two sides agreed on a Joint Declaration on Terrorism and a Joint
Declaration on Science & Technology Cooperation.
Both sides
also agreed to continue to work together in G-20 and other
international fora including the United Nations.
Indian
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh was assisted by Minister of
External Affairs S.M. Krishna, Minister of Road, Surface Transport &
Highways Kamal Nath, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas Murli Deora,
Minister of Commerce & Industry Anand Sharma, Minister of State for Defence Pallam Raju and the Principal Secretary to PM, T.K.A. Nair,
National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, and other senior
officials.
Turkish
President Abullah Gul, accompanied by wife Hayrunnisa Gul, is on a
State visit to India from 7th to 11th February, 2010.
Members of
his delegation include Mehmet Aydin, State Minister and co-Chairman
of the Joint Economic Commission, Prof. Dr. Recep Akdag, Minister of
Health and Binali Yildirim, Minister of Transportation, Members of
Parliament, senior Government officials and over a hundred business
persons. (ANI)
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