Indian Foreign Minister: Great prospects for joint R&D projects with Belarus

          Science, technologies and agriculture are promising cooperation avenues for India and Belarus, Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid told reporters. “The entire Eastern European region, including Belarus, is of interest for us. We can successfully collaborate with Belarus in a number of areas, first of all, in agriculture, science and technology, and education,” the minister said. He noted that other instruments, besides governmental meetings, should be used to expand contacts between Belarus and India. “Meetings of government officials are important, but they should be followed by meetings of businessmen and ordinary people. Mass media in Belarus and India should provide more coverage of the two countries; now such information is scarce,” Salman Khurshid said. In his view, visa requirements should be eased to facilitate Belarus-India cooperation.
           In 2012 Belarus welcomed 1,200 Indian nationals. The number of Belarusians visiting India is increasing year to year. Last year 5,000 Belarusian tourists travelled to India. This number of visas was issued for Belarusians in the Indian Embassy in Minsk.