BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

October 04, 2005 9:41:46 PM IST

India, Belarus look forward to strenghten trade relations

Minsk (belarus)

Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat arrived here today on the second leg of his three-nation tour during which India and Belarus will sign an agreement on 'Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters' Accompanied by three Parliamentarians, P K Maheshwari, Jana Krishnamurthy and Robert Kharshing, Mr Shekhawat met Gennadi Noviski, Chairman of the National Assembly of Belarus.

He was received at Minsk International Airport by Belarus National Assembly's Deputy Chairman Abramovich A Mikhailovich and Deputy Foreign Minister M Yurievich.

Though India's trade turn over with this land-locked country is around 118.3 million US dollars but Belarus has specific importance for India as it is a main source of potash fertilizers.

Belarus shares a strong relation with India in field of defence as it has been a source of major defence equipments even after collapse of the erstwhile Soviet Union.

During the Soviet Union regime, most of the defence equipments and armaments manufacturing facilities were created here in Belarus and those units are still supplying spare parts and other required defence equipment to India.

Earlier, President A P J Abdul Kalam's visit to the country in his capacity as Scientific Advisor to the then Defence Minister George Fernandes in February 1998 was testimony to the strong cooperation between the two countries in defence and scientific matters.

Besides defence equipments, India also imports hydrailic pumps, bearings and other heavy machinery.

Indian exports to Belarus include tea, pharmaceuticals, pepper, machine electrical equipments, rice, yarn, linen and organic dyes.

Source:

http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=129028&cat=India