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Ambassador Muthu Kumar: India thinks to derive benefits from the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway

06 March 2007 16:29 (UTC +04:00)

-Mr.Ambassador, are you satisfied with your appointment to Azerbaijan? What do you know about Azerbaijan?
-Well, Azerbaijan is the oldest oil producing country in the world. I also know that Azerbaijan was famous for its oil in Romanian times. I see a major role for cooperation and interaction between India and Azerbaijan.
-What projects are you going to implement during your term of office?
- Well, one, we are looking from the energy sector of Azerbaijan. We are seeing economic development of Azerbaijan and we want to participate in this economic development. Importantly, in a world of globalization there are many things that we can offer Azerbaijan. Of course, we have place in Azerbaijani business if are competitive. We are almost a super power in information technologies. Certainly we can come, interact and cooperate on information technologies. Azerbaijan is very important for us from the point of view of geographical location. We can have close cooperation. And importantly, we are very good friends. Weâ€™ll work to promote these relations.
-About a month ago, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia concluded an agreement on the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project. Does India think to export goods through this railway?
-That is railway line for the region. We can drive benefits from this railway. It is very important. It will link three important republics and already geostrategically located. It is an important development. It is privilege to be near the Caspian Sea. We come to Banderabas and to Azerbaijan from there. In Azerbaijan we use other facilities to get to Georgia and Turkey. It makes our cooperation more important. Azerbaijan is not landlocked. It is well linked to the world. We are sure it will be a good success.
-What is the position of the Indian government on the Nagorno- Karabakh conflict?
- You see, we do not comment on bilateral problems as much as we have bilateral problems with our neighbors. I should not carry bilateral problems to Azerbaijan. As to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, I read in the press there are a lot of positive improvements. President of the Azerbaijan Republic Ilham Aliyev himself expressed lots of optimism. Of course, weâ€™ll be happy if this problem is solved peacefully./APA/