India,Czech Republic sign pact on economic cooperation

India and the Czech Republic on Tuesday completed the substantive part of the bilateral engagements and inked agreements

India and the Czech Republic on Tuesday completed the substantive part of the bilateral engagements and inked agreements that had been scheduled to coincide with the three-day visit of Vice President Hamid Ansari to Prague.

In all,three bilateral agreements on social security,economic cooperation and one on an amendment to an earlier agreement on promotion and protection of investments were signed between the two countries on Tuesday. The amendment was necessitated since the earlier agreement between the two countries was signed in 1996 and subsequently,in 2004,the Czech Republic became a member of the European Union. Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Sachin Pilot,who is accompanying the Vice-President on his East European tour,signed two agreements on Indias behalf.

India and the Czech Republic after having achieved a $1 billion annual bilateral trade figure announced the setting up of another Joint Commission on economic cooperation.

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Agricultural research,nano fibre optics and food processing were discussed as possible areas for future cooperation in the economic sphere,which has earlier been focused on the automotive sector and Information Technology.

The Vice-President said during his address at the banquet hosted by the President of the Senate of Parliament,We believe that there exists an ideal synergy between Indias growing market and Czech technology. There is already bilateral trade and investment in sectors as diverse as software,pharmaceuticals,infrastructure,textiles and engineering goods. The meeting in New Delhi last month,between industrial users and R&D organizations of our two countries,points to further areas of mutually beneficial cooperation.

He also spoke about the scourge of terrorism and how it had become a threat to international peace and security. We must cooperate and reinvigorate our collective efforts to strengthen international cooperation to eradicate terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Swift and credible steps must be taken to terrorist safe havens.

At the end of the Prague leg of the Vice-Presidents week-long foreign tour,Vivek Katju,Secretary (West) in the MEA,described it as a substantive engagement with a country that is located in the very heart of Europe. Now,the two countries have to utilize all the untapped potential that exists in the bilateral relationship.