No:076/18,Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with the delegation headed by Minister of External Affairs of India Ms. Sushma Swaraj

Minister Sushma Swaraj expressed her satisfaction over visiting Azerbaijan and thanked the Azerbaijani side for high-level organization of the Mid-Term Ministerial Conference of the Non- Aligned Movement. She noted her meeting with H.E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and said that very fruitful discussions took place at the meeting.

The Ministers emphasized the importance of the Non-Aligned Movement role in maintenance of international peace and security.

The sides stressed the importance of high level meetings in strengthening political and economic ties between the two countries and underlined that there is a huge potential for cooperation in energy, investment, informationtechnologies, film industry, agriculture, tourism, pharmacy and other spheres. The role of the Intergovernmental Joint Commission in the development of economic and commerce relations had been specifically highlighted.

At the meeting, the sides exchanged their views on the North-South and South-West transport routes. The interlocutors stressed that these transport corridors, linking the South Asian region with the Eastern and Northern European regions will contribute to increasing the freight traffic and inter-human contacts across the region.

Indian Minister stated that India supports the efforts of Azerbaijan and other partner countries for development of North-South corridor. She also congratulated Azerbaijan for commissioning of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.

The sides also touched upon the development of inter-parliamentary relations, expanding the legal framework and cooperation within the international organizations.

Stressing the importance of cooperation in the field of science, the Ministers discussed academic exchange programs between the diplomatic education institutions of two countries.

Speaking about the negotiation process on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said that Armenia does not implement the demands of the UN Security Council resolutions on the conflict to withdraw its troops from the occupied lands of Azerbaijan and continues the occupation of Azerbaijan's territories.

At the meeting the Ministers signed “Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the Republic of India on exemption from visa requirement for holders of diplomatic, official and service passports”. “Memorandum of Understanding between ADA University, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Foreign Service Institute, Ministry of External Affairs, Republic of India” was signed by Deputy FM, rector of ADA University Hafiz Pashayev and Ms. Ruchi Ghanashyam, Secretary (West) of the Ministry of External Affairs Republic of India

Furthermore the Ministers held a joint press conference.