DUSHANBE, September 3, 2012, Asia-Plus — On Monday September 3, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon met Indian President Pranab Kumar Mukherjee and held discussions on bilateral cooperation with Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, in New Delhi, the Tajik president’s official website reports.
In the course of the talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Tajik leader reportedly noted that Tajikistan attached significance importance to expansion of bilateral cooperation with India, which was an important factor in Tajikistan’s foreign policy in the Asian direction.
The sides expressed interest in expansion of bilateral cooperation in sectors like trade, energy, transportation, agriculture, tourism, pharmaceutics, and minerals, the Tajik president’s website said.
Six cooperation documents were reportedly signed in the presence of President Emomali Rahmon and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh: 1) an agreement on cooperation between the Ministry of Heath of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India; 2) an agreement in cooperation between the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Labor and Employment of India; 3) a cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Education of Tajikistan and the Department of Education, Government of India; 4) a memorandum on cooperation between the Ministry of Energy and Industries of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Textiles of India; 5) a program of cooperation between the Government of Tajikistan and the Government of India in the field of culture and arts for 2013-2015; and 6) a memorandum on cooperation between the Committee fro Youth, Sports and Tourism Affairs of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of India.
On conclusions of the negotiations, President Emomali Rahmon and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made statements to the media.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Tajikistan is a key partner of India in the Central Asian region. He noted that India will support accession of Tajikistan to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
We will recall that President Rahmon is accompanied by a 33 member official delegation on his state visit to India. These include the minister of foreign affairs, minister for energy and industry, minister for education, and other ministers for health, culture, and justice. Others include the president of the academy of sciences, head of committee on youth affairs, sports and tourism.
