New Delhi, March 14
Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Aleinik and Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal stressed the need to generate awareness about business opportunities in the two countries.
Sergei Aleinik, who was on a visit to India from March 12-13, held talks with Union Minister Piyush Goyal and both sides discussed various aspects of the bilateral economic partnership including ways to enhance bilateral trade through cooperation in the manufacture of EVs, agriculture machinery and harvesting equipment.
"The two Ministers stressed the need to generate greater awareness about available business opportunities among the business communities of the two countries," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
Belarusian Foreign Minister Aleinik was in India at the invitation of EAM S Jaishankar.
During his visit, he had fruitful meetings with EAM Jaishankar, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal (CIM) and Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers & Health and Family Welfare, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya.
Belarusian minister Aleinik and EAM Jaishankar held meetings on Tuesday and reviewed India-Belarus bilateral ties and discussed ways to enhance the development partnership and bilateral cooperation in sectors such as trade, economy, insurance, defence, education, IT and science and technology.
"They also discussed the regional/global issues of mutual interest and cooperation in various multilateral groupings/organizations such as UN, SCO and others," the statement said.
The Belarusian Foreign Minister held a meeting with Mansukh Mandaviya on the same day and discussed ways to develop and strengthen cooperation in areas such as health, pharmaceuticals and fertilizers.
Moreover, he also met with the Secretary of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, Dr Vivek Joshi in addition to interacting with the Indian business community.
The Belarusian delegation also engaged with Indian business and industry through an interaction coordinated by FICCI on Tuesday.
India and Belarus enjoy comprehensive relations across a large spectrum of areas. They have established mechanisms for furthering bilateral cooperation and sharing views on bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest through Foreign Office Consultations, an Intergovernmental Commission (IGC), and Joint Working Groups.
The last visit of a Foreign Minister of Belarus, the Late Mr Vladimir Makei, to India, was in November 2022 for the 11th Session of the India-Belarus Joint Commission on Trade, Economy, Industry, Science, Technology and Culture (IGC-TEC).
During that visit, bilateral meetings with EAM, CIM and the Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers were also held.