Baku, October 29, AZERTAC

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received the credentials of the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of India Sanjay Rana.

Ambassador Sanjay Rana reviewed the guard of honor.

Sanjay Rana handed his credentials to President Ilham Aliyev.

President Ilham Aliyev then had a conversation with the Ambassador.

The Ambassador conveyed greetings of President of the Republic of India Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the head of state. The Ambassador noted that the two countries had historical ties, saying India was attached great importance to its relations with Azerbaijan. He said the Indian government applauded wise leadership of President Ilham Aliyev. The Ambassador noted that great development was achieved in all fields, particularly economic and social spheres in the country under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev. The Indian diplomat underlined the importance of successful organization of the First European Games in Azerbaijan.

Saying the relations between the two countries were expanding in the economic, trade, educational and technical fields, Sanjay Rana noted that he would spare no efforts to elevate the bilateral ties to a higher level thanks to President Ilham Aliyev`s support.

President Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan was interested in developing partnership with India. The head of state said there was big potential for the cooperation in the economic, energy, trade, educational, cultural and other areas. President Ilham Aliyev said there also were great opportunities for boosting the ties in the fields of business, encouragement of mutual investment, establishment of joint enterprises and improvement of trade between the two countries. The head of state said India was an advanced country in terms of information technologies, adding the work has been done in this sector in Azerbaijan too. President Ilham Aliyev said there were good opportunities for the cooperation in information technologies. The head of state expressed confidence that the Ambassador would establish good relations with the relevant bodies of Azerbaijan for defining the new areas of cooperation in the fields of economy and trade.

The President thanked for the greetings of Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and asked the Ambassador to communicate his greetings to the President and Prime Minster of India.