Foreign

Baku. Malahat Najafova – APA. Ambassador of India to Azerbaijan Vinod Kumar’s interview to APA.

- How do you estimate bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and India?

- We have friendly relations for centuries but the relations between our countries are excellent friendly. But ties are far from potential. You know, India is coming up, Azerbaijan is booming, hosting so many international events and various activities going up, but our relations are not going according to the potential of both countries and we hope this year we started so many things and just this pick up so well and it will definitely reflect the ties of both countries. For example during this year, there were four ministers led delegations coming from India and from Azerbaijan not many ministers have gone, but many delegations have gone. One of your ministers -minister of energy, he has been in India and other ministers plan to go to India soon. There are invitations from our ministers to your ministers sending. So is all matter how and when they want to schedule their visits.

We have a lot of potential in political, as well as commercial, economical sectors, of course cultural, traditional sectors. I want to tell you that everybody loves Bollywood, exactly when I went with the Indian professor to Azerbaijan University of Languages and met with students in one event, they were dancing so well, I was wondering I was in Mumbai the Bollywood Theater are in Baku. So that they are well known so much, Raj Kapoor is also well known here. There a lot of potential between the people to people.

The Technical and Economic Cooperation Program is being implemented in India. India opens its universities for students to take training on the basis of this program. We are ready to cooperate and carry out exchange of experience with the Azerbaijani side in this direction. The students from Azerbaijan can take training in the best institutions of India. We offer programs for 3 or 6 months. There are also scholarship programs there. We have submitted the program on this issue to Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The future is really bright so we hope in the coming years a lot of activities between Azerbaijan and India will take place.

- How are the relations between the two countries developing and is the next meeting of the intergovernmental commission expected?

We held intergovernmental commission meeting during this year in April. So normally one intergovernmental commission was held here and the next meeting has to be held in New Delhi. So it is up to Azerbaijan side when they want to go to India. We are ready to organize the ministers’ visit. Soon we are going to hold your ministerial visits. We have sent the invitations to minister of justice from our minister of justice, to the foreign minister and minister of telecommunication and IT and minister of sports. When you ask about the particularly economical- yes, economical cooperation more important as you know. There were economic commercial relations centuries ago, too. We can speak about The Fire Temple Ateshgah. Businessmen, traders definitely traders were sheltering and staying here and enjoying hospitality of local people during their travels. The economic relations have been already established between us and we have not increased it much, now we think to improve these relations. Azerbaijan’s economy is developing rapidly. After the independence Azerbaijan had problem and we also had problems in economic field. We have been starting to develop since 2005 and the potential for the relations have sufficiently developed. The relations between our countries are also developing in energy sector. Azerbaijan has hydrocarbons, oil and gas resources and we have going to cooperate with Azerbaijan in this sphere. Our companies started importing oil directly from Azerbaijan. So trade had been very low until this year, it was almost three hundred million only till last year. But now during this year, I tell you during these nine months trade has gone up to $1.3 billon, so another three month before the close up of this year it was more than $1.7-1.8 billion.

- What is the level of cooperation in the field of tourism?

- We have good potential for tourism but there are several problems in tourism cooperation. The main problem is the lack of direct air connection between the two countries. I discussed it with authorities. If the direct air connection will be discussed so many people will come from India to Azerbaijan also from Azerbaijan to India. I tell you, when I was in Malaysia as a deputy commissioner we used to receive Indian tourists in million and people used to come in Kuala Lumpur to celebrate their marriages there.

There are 1.27 billion people in India. Approximately 400-500 mln people of them travel abroad every year. If one or two percent of them arrive in Azerbaijan, let’s see how many million people come here. The tourism agencies are expected to sign documents on the promotion of visits. We have discussed these issues with the Azerbaijani Minister of Tourism and Culture. The ambassador said that the Fire Temple Ateshgah must be reconstructed for tourist attraction from the world, particularly from India.

We are exploring various ways to open the direct air connection. For example, when I discussed this issue with AZAL, they informed me that it will not be more economically valuable to operate flights only to India. They plan flights not only to India. But also to Kuala Lumpur and other places but soon I think it will be valuable. When I said in India that I would go to Azerbaijan, I was asked where it is. Little is known about Azerbaijan in India, because before independence of your country 20 years ago we were only looking to Moscow so at that time there were exchanges between Azerbaijan and India but as a part of USSR. Your country is coming up and more tourists will come to Azerbaijan from India.

- In which direction of oil-gas field does India intend to cooperate with Azerbaijan? What about the issue on the opening of the mission by the Indian National Oil Company in Azerbaijan?

-India is growing so much and its energy demands are so high. We import 80 percent of our oil requirement mostly from one source. But we are intending to diversify our energy resources now and Azerbaijan is the most important country for us in this direction. The Indian National Oil Company intends to cooperate with Azerbaijan’s SOCAR and foreign companies. The US Hess Corporation sold a part of its shares in Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline to the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) of India. This process started in September and now is going to complete. We expect that that this process will end till March 31, because our financial year is till March 31. We hope that the formalities will be completed in the coming three months.

- What is the position of India on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict?

- India always supports the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and we will continue this. We also highly assess your efforts towards the settlement of the conflict within bilateral negotiations and OSCE Minsk Group and applying other mechanisms.

- Kashmir problem has been continuing between India and Pakistan for many years. Which steps are being taken towards the solution of this conflict now?

- The Jammu and Kashmir problem between India and Pakistan inherited from our colonial rules has already become a historical problem. The two countries are holding talks on this issue and progresses have been already achieved. The talks are being held on an official and unofficial level. But the problem is that when the two countries reach the final stage of the talks, then extremists prevent this. For example the terrorist acts committed in Mumbai on November 26, 2008.

Such incidents have directly impacted the discussions and talks between the two countries. Both countries are in favor of peaceful solution of the conflict. But the antisocial forces create problems.

Democratic processes are increasing in the area. The independent elections have been held twice and the National Conference Party got a victory.

The talks between the countries in this direction give fruits. Moreover, the trade between our countries is at a high-level. The official visits often take place. Pakistan’s President has recently visited India and the Prime Minister and the other ministers are also planning visits.

-India announced that it would sign mutual legal assistance agreement with Azerbaijan. When is it expected to be singed?

- We have invited the Azerbaijani Justice Minister to India on this issue. The preparatory process of the documents has been already completed. The visit is delayed due to the events that your country is hosting. Our minister has invited the Azerbaijani Justice Minister and he said that he would visit, but the date of his visit is still unknown. This document may be signed in the next three years.

The mutual legal assistance agreement consists of three parts – criminal cases, civil cases and extradition. According to the document, Azerbaijan is to prevent illegal activities by detention, imprisonment under the document, as well as India is expected do the same by the request of Azerbaijan. In general, the document covers the prevention of crimes, investigation and prosecution, fulfillment of orders and other judicial commissions, mutual assistance in seizure of incomes and criminal tools in necessary cases.

No legal agreement has been signed between the two countries in this direction up to now. In this regard, this document and the cooperation in this field are very important for us.

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