India and Belarus, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties this year, yesterday agreed to further elevate their partnership.
“We reviewed the architecture of India-Belarus partnership and exchanged ideas to expand it,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a joint press conference with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko following delegation-level talks here.
“We exchanged views on bilateral, regional and global issues,” Modi said.
He said that both sides considered new areas of co-operation and agreed to elevate the partnership.
“We will work to diversify economic linkages. The focus will be to build upon the natural complementaries between us.”
The prime minister said the bilateral relationship should evolve from a buyer-seller partnership to deeper engagement.
“There are abundant business and investment opportunities in pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, heavy machinery and equipment,” he said.
Modi said last year Indian companies made a positive beginning with three joint ventures in pharmaceuticals.
“Possibilities for partnership also exist in manufacturing of tyres, agro-industrial machinery and mining equipment,” he said.
“Similarly in heavy duty construction machinery, India has a growing demand and Belarus has industrial strengths.”
Lukashenko said he was interested in India’s growth so that the world can become more multi-polar.
Stating that the two countries signed an investment protection agreement yesterday, he said Belarus was interested in participating in key Indian development initiatives like Smart Cities and Skill India.




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