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Indian ambassador to Azerbaijan Debnath Show holds press conference

09 June 2009 10:49 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Lachin Sultanova â€“ APA. Indian ambassador to Azerbaijan Debnath Show held a press conference on Tuesday, APA reports. He said Azerbaijan and India had relations in remote past. Ateshgah (Temple of Fire) was a holy place and shelter for Indian pilgrims. â€œThe direct dialogue between the leaders and officials of the two countries and lifting of misunderstandings are important for the development of political tiesâ€. The ambassador said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev was invited to India, but various political meetings and documents should be achieved before this visit. â€œThe economic relations are mostly based on purchasing of crude oil from Azerbaijan. According to official statistics, last year import from India was $110 million and form Azerbaijan $2.4 billion. Oil crude import from Azerbaijan was increased much more due to the exploitation of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and agreement between the Indian company and SOCAR. Azerbaijan purchases pharmaceuticals, tea, frozen meat, textile and food industry goods from Indiaâ€. Ambassador Show said nearly 500 Indian citizens were living in Azerbaijan and nearly 30 of them married with Azerbaijani citizens. 50 Indian students are studying in Baku, but there is only Azerbaijani student in India. The ambassador said Indian musical and dance groups expected to visit Azerbaijan this year. The embassy presented its Internet site at the press conference.