Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 21 March (BelTA) - Belarus hopes to develop industrial cooperation with India, Belarus’ Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov said to outgoing Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of India to Belarus Pankaj Saxena on 21 March, BelTA learned.

“We hope to develop industrial and sci-tech cooperation with India. We have already been implementing projects in oil production and agriculture. We hope to implement the project of the Indian investment cluster in the village of Bolbasovo, Orsha District,” Andrei Kobyakov said. Joint projects can be added to the agenda of the future visit of the Indian prime minister to Belarus.

Belarus is interested in further development of multilateral economic cooperation with India. India and the Eurasian Economic Union will discuss the development of a free trade zone. Belarus consistently supports the development of the trade and economic relations between India and the Eurasian Economic Union, the PM said.

According to Andrei Kobyakov, during Pankaj Saxena’s mission in Belarus, a good foundation for cooperation was laid between the two countries. The trade and economic cooperation is at the heart of the partnership. “We made significant progress in terms of building up our trade and economic cooperation last year. However, we are still far from reaching $1 billion in mutual trade, as was set forth by our leaders," the prime minister said. The countries have already been implementing promising projects, including in the pharmaceutical sector, which will help reach a new level of trade and economic cooperation.

“You are completing your diplomatic mission in our country. You should know that despite the change of you status you can always count on Belarus as a reliable friend. The Belarusian government expresses gratitude to you for your contribution to the development of the Belarusian-Indian relations in the trade, economic and other sectors,” Andrei Kobyakov said.

According to Pankaj Saxena, Belarus and India enjoy friendly relations that became even stronger after the visit of the Belarusian president to India in September 2017. India knows how much attention Belarus attaches to the development of bilateral cooperation. “A number of agreements were reached during the president’s visit. The two states are currently working on the implementation of these agreements, including the one suggested by Belarus in Orsha District,” the ambassador said.