On August 15, Acting Foreign Minister of Armenia Armen Grigoryan participated and delivered remarks at the event dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the Independence of India. In his remarks, the Acting Foreign Minister particularly said.

Distinguished Dr. Sahasrabuddhe,

Your Excellency Mr. Ambassador and Mrs. Deval

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Friends,

On behalf of the Government of Armenia and my own, I would like to welcome the delegation of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations to Armenia.

I am also pleased to send our warmest congratulations on behalf of the Government of Armenia on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of India’s independence.

India, with its statehood and culture, has always had a solid place in world civilization. And today we are witnessing the significant achievements of the society of India, which has a positive impact on comprehensive progress.

The relations and the historical ties between Armenians and Indians derive from the depths of millennia. They have especially intensified in the 17-19th centuries, when a large number of Armenian communities were formed in a number of major Indian cities, playing an active role in the social, political, economic and cultural life of India.

I would like to commend that since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Armenia and India have managed to turn the centuries-old friendly relations into a warm interstate and partnership cooperation based on mutual respect and trust.

In recent years, many contacts and cultural events have taken place between our countries. We have also established effective cooperation on multilateral platforms.

Unfortunately, the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic from January of 2020, and the Azerbaijani-Turkish aggression against Armenia and Artsakh in September of 2020, did not allow us to implement our pre-planned programs and mutual visits. However, it is obvious that we still have a lot to do in order to utilize the untapped potential of bilateral political, security, military, economic, business, cultural and educational cooperation.

We express our solidarity with the Government and the people of friendly India in completely overcoming the Covid-19. Armenia has always supported India in the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. At the same time, we appreciate the targeted statements of the Indian authorities regarding the Azerbaijani-Turkish aggression against Artsakh, the transfer of foreign terrorist fighters to the region, as well as the encroachments on the Armenian borders.

From the point of promoting economic cooperation, the work of the Armenian-Indian intergovernmental commission and the holding of business forums in the near future is very important.

Cooperation between the two countries in the fields of information technologies, military, defense, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, tourism, education, culture and others also has good perspectives.

Armenia closely follows India’s active involvement in the International North-South Transport Corridor project and its interest in developing the Chabahar port and linking it to the above-mentioned project and is ready to be involved in the implementation of the latter.

Armenia is grateful to the Government of India and the Indian people, for the caring attitude towards the centuries-old Armenian community in India and the Armenian cultural heritage. We appreciate the implementation of a number of programs in Armenia with the support of the Government of India in the fields of information technology, medicine and others.

Our two peoples have a lot in common – it is first of all the human potential – diligence, purposefulness, the inclination to creative innovation, as well as the commitment to the protection of rich history, cultural heritage and value system.

As the great Indian thinker and politician, Mahatma Gandhi said, whose statue was erected in Yerevan as one of the symbols of the friendship between our two peoples, “relations are based on the following four principles: respect, understanding, acceptance and gratitude.” I think we have all these principles in the relations between our countries and the peoples.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today, glancing back at the development process of the Armenian-Indian relations, we can state that Armenia and India have established a dynamic format of interstate cooperation. We are determined to develop this cooperation to a qualitatively new level for the benefit of our peoples and countries.