Armenian MFA: "Yerevan and Delhi have done much work for defence cooperation"

Armenia and India have recently conducted extensive work to develop bilateral cooperation in key areas such as defence and regional security, international communications, transport and tourism.

Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mnatsakan Safaryan made the statement at the opening of the international conference "Armenia-India: New Stimuli for Thousand-Year Relations" in Yerevan on November 28, Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenian media.

The event was initiated by the Armenian Foreign Ministry and is timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Strengthening cooperation with India is one of Armenia’s foreign policy priorities. The diplomat noted that the conference will discuss topical issues of the Armenian-Indian agenda and outline new contours and directions of cooperation.

Safaryan stressed that Armenia can take advantage of India's rapid progress to strengthen its defence capabilities, adding that Yerevan-New Delhi relations have steadily developed over the past 30 years at political, economic and humanitarian levels.

"It is heartening to see India, with its vibrant democracy and dynamic economy, making more and more progress and achievements in a wide range of areas. All this contributes to India's standing on the world stage. I am pleased to say that centuries-old relations of our countries and peoples and mutual support continue to strengthen and interstate ties continue to expand and deepen," Safaryan said.

According to him, in addition to bilateral formats, the two countries also actively cooperate on international platforms. Several business forums have also been organised recently, and new joint projects have been initiated.

He mentioned medicine, science, education and information technology as the leading areas of bilateral cooperation.

The deputy minister also noted the existence of a huge untapped potential for cooperation.

Later, speaking to journalists, Safaryan pledged concrete results in areas such as defence, trade and communications. According to him, important meetings have been held in the last six months.

A delegation led by Armenian Defence Minister Suren Papikyan visited India in October. The Indian media had previously repeatedly reported on major military-technical deals between Yerevan and New Delhi.