Baku, May 19, AZERTAC

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

The ambassador presented his credentials to President Ilham Aliyev.

Then, the head of state had a conversation with the ambassador.

The ambassador said that he is, first of all, happy to come to Azerbaijan in the year marking the 100th anniversary of the Great Leader in the country. He noted that renowned personality Heydar Aliyev’s and President Ilham Aliyev’s views suggest that Azerbaijan is on the path of building prosperous, multicultural country with a very strong economy.

The ambassador highlighted Azerbaijan’s chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement and India’s presidency of the G-20 and Shanghai Cooperation Organization, saying India is among 5 top trade partners of Azerbaijan and trade turnover surge of 155 percent registered last year is a good sign of this.

Sridharan Madhusudhanan noted that there is a great potential for expansion of economic cooperation between the two countries given India has a strong economy too. He mentioned the oil and pharmaceutical industries in this respect.

At the same time, the ambassador pointed out that multiculturalism prevailing in Azerbaijan is very attractive for India, and highlighted the importance of enhancing humanitarian relations.

The diplomat touched upon the cooperation in the tourism sector, saying large number of Indian tourists’ traveling to Azerbaijan, ancient history of relations between both peoples, large number of historical monuments provide ample opportunities for cooperation in the tourism sector. The ambassador said that along with the old and historical buildings he was impressed by the modern ones constructed in the capital.

Sridharan Madhusudhanan said he would spare no effort to further cooperation in information technologies, energy, education, environment and other fields.

President Ilham Aliyev pointed out that the Great Leader is a founder of the modern Azerbaijani statehood and guarantor of the country’s development, adding Azerbaijani lands had been already occupied by Armenians when the National Leader assumed the presidency. The Azerbaijani leader noted that the occupied Azerbaijani lands had been ruined with a million Azerbaijanis forced from their homes by the Armenian aggression. The Azerbaijani President pointed out that Great Leader Heydar Aliyev’s goal had been to ensure territorial integrity and defense capacity and build a strong state and economy. The head of state underlined that Azerbaijan had liberated its occupied lands 2.5 years ago and, thus, the National Leader’s wish and instructions had been fulfilled.

The President of Azerbaijan noted that during the 30-year-long occupation, the Azerbaijani people had faced a humanitarian catastrophe with a million of people left homeless - the fact, which caused great obstacles for the development of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani leader noted there was a great potential in the country in all fields in the wake of liberation of the occupied lands. Emphasizing that the large-scale reconstruction and reconstruction works are underway in the territories liberated from occupation, the head of state noted that following the Victory in the Patriotic War, the people of Azerbaijan live with a sense of pride and this manifests itself in every sphere.

At the same time, the President of Azerbaijan emphasized that today revanchist forces are rising in Armenia, adding that territorial claims against Azerbaijan continue. Saying that Armenia’s rapid arming poses new threats, the head of state noted that if Armenia really wants peace with Azerbaijan, then there is a question why it is buying weapons worth 100 millions of dollars. The President of Azerbaijan underlined that this policy could lead to new threats to the region.

On the Azerbaijan's chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), President Ilham Aliyev underscored that the country’s chairmanship term was very efficient in terms of institutional development of the Movement. The head of state noted that a number of important initiatives put forward by Azerbaijan are known to have been successfully implemented, in this regard. The Azerbaijani President emphasized the importance of strengthening the cooperation between the NAM member states, the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the countries as well as the continued commitment to the well-known Bandung principles.

Recalling that India is one of the Non-Aligned Movement founders, and President Ilham Aliyev highlighted the importance of NAM’s becoming an important factor in the global policy in the future although this institution has got through various stages of development since its establishment.

President Ilham Aliyev touched upon relations with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, saying that Azerbaijan had been a dialogue partner of the organization for many years, and described the country’s high-level participation in the summit of this organization in Uzbekistan as a remarkable event.

Discussions during the conversation also addressed the prospects of cooperation in the fields of culture, transport as well as the North-South corridor.