Foreign Affairs Record

1998 January Volume No XLIV No 1 1995 CONTENTS Foreign Affairs Record VOL XLIV NO 1 January, 1998 CONTENTS ARGENTINA India Signs MOU on Antarctic Science with Argentina 1 BANGLADESH Trilateral Business Summit 1 Speech by the Prime Minister of India Shri I. K. Gujral at the Bangladesh-India-Pakistan Business Summit 2 GERMANY Bilateral Trade - Germany 6 GREECE Visit of the President of the Hellenic Republic of Greece to India 6 INDIA Lists of nuclear installations and facilities to be covered in Agreement on the Prohibition of attack between India and Pakistan 7 Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Memorial Lecture 7 Third Meeting of the India-Zambia Joint Commission 8 Condolence on the death of Mr. C. S. Jha former Foreign Secretary of India 8 Exhibition - Cultural Portraits of India 9 Exchange of Indian and Pakistani Fishing Boats 9 The Associated Press Presented Gandhi-Nehru Picture to Prime Minister Shri I. K. Gujral 9 Prime Minister Writes to World Leaders on Recent Developments Relating to Iraq 10 POLAND State Visit of H.E. Mr. Alexander Kwasniewski, President of Poland to India 10 RUSSIA Cultural Exchange Agreement Signed between India and Russia 11 ANNEXURE Agreement on Tourism Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Hellenic Republic 12 <P-1> ARGENTINA INDIA BANGLADESH USA PAKISTAN GERMANY GREECE ZAMBIA IRAQ POLAND RUSSIA Date : Jan 01, 1998 Volume No XLIV No 1 1995 ARGENTINA India Signs MOU on Antarctic Science with Argentina Following is the text of a Press Note issued in New Delhi on Jan 22, 1998 regarding India signs MOU on Antarctic Science with Argentina: A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between India and Argentina, on cooperation in Antarctic science was signed here yesterday. The MOU reaffirms the commitment of the two nations to the Antarctic Treaty. It endeavours to promote contemporary Antarctic research through cooperation and exchange of scientists in each other's expedition. It also confirms the two nations' efforts to uphold the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty which has been ratified by both India and Argentina. The MOU was signed by Dr. A. E. Muthunayagam, Secretary, Department of Ocean Development and Ms. Elda Sampietro, Ambassador of Argentina in India. Argentina maintains six permanent stations in the icy continent. India is also persuing experiments over the last seventeen years in Antarctica. The MOU is designated to herald a new era of cooperation between the two countries, said Dr. Muthunayagam. Argentine Ambassador informed that as a follow up of this MOU, specific areas of global scientific interests will be taken up for the joint collaborative programmes. For the first time it will give access to the scientists of the two countries to work and share scientific data from the Antarctic peninsula where the Argentine stations are located and the Dronning Maudland area where the Indian station "Maitri" is located. DOD over the last few years has laid stresses on international collaborations in Antarctic science and logistics. Projects with several countries like Germany, France, Italy, USA and Peru are underway. ARGENTINA INDIA FRANCE ITALY PERU USA Date : Jan 22, 1998 Volume No XLIV No 1 1995 BANGLADESH Trilateral Business Summit Following is the text of a Press Release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi on Jan 10, 1998 on Trilateral Business Summit in Dhaka: At the SAARC Summit in Male in May 1997, the Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, issued separate invitations to our Prime Minister and to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan to attend a Business Summit of the three countries in Dhaka. The invitation was accepted by our Prime Minister. <P-2> 2. The Business Summit was scheduled to take place in Dhaka on November 23, 1997 but was deferred at the request of the Prime Minister of Pakistan. It has now been rescheduled and will take place on Jan 15, 1998. Leading members of business and industry from the three major Indian business Chambers (FICCI, CII and Assocham) will be participating in the Summit as will their counterparts from Bangladesh and Pakistan. The Indian delegation will be led by Shri K. K. Modi, President of FICCI. 3. The three Prime Ministers will address the Opening Session of the Summit which will commence at 1200 hours. The heads of each business delegation will also make presentations in this session. The afternoon session will be a Business Session which will consider important issues affecting economic cooperation. The focus will be on Ways and Means to Improve Trade, Improving Transportation Infrastructure and Joint Ventures, including Energy. 4. The Prime Ministers will also attend the Closing Session of the Summit. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will host an Iftar Party for the visiting Prime Ministers and their delegations. This will provide an opportunity for informal dialogue. 5. The previous day our Prime Minister will have talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and also attend a Dinner hosted by her in his honour. He will also call on the President of Bangladesh. On 15th morning before the Summit he will go to the Martyrs Memorial at Savar to pay his respects to all those who died in the cause of Bangladesh's independence. 6. Prime Minister will also have a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Pakistan on 15th January afternoon. 7. The Summit is a truly historic occasion when, for the first time, the leaders of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan will come together on a common platform to support economic cooperation. India, Bangladesh and Pakistan are the three largest countries in South Asia with a combined population of over 1 billion. They can accelerate economic growth by fully tapping the possibilities for mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation. 8. The private sector has to, naturally, play a key role in this process. The Summit will provide a unique opportunity for the business communities of the three countries to explore avenues for expanding business ties. This will also impart added momentum to the process of regional economic cooperation. The prospects for this have improved perceptibly given the increasing convergence of the economic policies of the countries of the region and the realisation that economic development can be accelerated by fully tapping the synergies from regional cooperation. 9. At the Male Summit the leaders of SAARC took a landmark decision to achieve a Free Trade Area in South Asia by the year 2001. This objective can and must be realised if we are to lay the foundations for shared prosperity in the future. BANGLADESH USA INDIA MALDIVES PAKISTAN Date : Jan 15, 1998 Volume No XLIV No 1 1995 BANGLADESH Speech by the Prime Minister of India Shri I. K. Gujral at the Bangladesh-India-Pakistan Business Summit Following is the text of a Press Release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi on Jan 15, 1998 containing speech by Shri I. K. Gujral at Bangladesh in Business Summit: Your Excellency Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Your Excellency Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Distinguished Delegates and Friends, This is a truly historic occasion. For the first time, the leaders of Bangladesh, Pakistan and India have come together on a common platform. What is more, we have come together on a common platform <P-3> with captains of trade and industry to see how we can jointly work together to usher in a new era of cooperation and prosperity for our peoples. Madam Prime Minister, I would like to express my deep appreciation for the bold and far-sighted initiative that you have taken in bringing us all here together today. Our presence here is a tribute, to your statesmanship and the esteem and affection in which all of us hold you. I thank you for the excellent arrangements that your government has made for this meeting, and for the warm hospitality extended to me and members of my delegation. Our countries are inheritors of an ancient and highly developed civilisation. From the sophisticated urban design of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa, and the technological wizardry of the Ashokan Pillars, to the amazing fineness of the Dhaka Muslins, our peoples have been known through much of human history for their creativity and productive skills. Our growth, however, was stunted by colonisation, which left us impoverished even as Europe and North America were making the transition to industrialised societies. Today, we have a unique opportunity to work together to overcome poverty and accelerate economic growth for the shared benefit of our poeople. In this age of globalisation, nations in different parts of the world have discovered the advantages of regional economic cooperation and the development of a common, regional economic space. At the end of World War II, who would have imagined that France and Germany, who had fought three bitter wars in the preceding 80 years, would come together to create the European Community which has now become the European Union. Nearer to us, the countries of South East Asia have been able to achieve commendable success in development with regional cooperation through ASEAN playing a key role. In America, both NAFTA and Mercosur reflect the same economic imperative. The prospects of forging closer ties of economic cooperation in our own region have improved perceptibly. There is, today, an increasing convergence in our macro-economic policies, with an emphasis on deregulation and a greater role for the private sector. All of us are seeking to unleash the creative energies of our entrepreneurs and workers and bring about improvements in efficiency so that we can compete more effectively in the new globalised economy. In the last few years, we have seen a quickening of growth in our individual economies with increases in GNP ranging from five to seven percent.

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