New Delhi
23 September 2005
In a bid to kickstart its ties with Iraq, India has proposed to
host the two countries' Joint Commission for Technical and Economic Cooperation at a
mutually convenient date possibly before the year-end. The Joint Commision last met in
2002 in New Delhi.
The Union petroleum and natural gas minister, Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar has in a letter
dated September 20 invited his Iraqi counterpart, Mr Ibrahim Baher al-Uloom, to New
Delhi for talks. It would be the first meeting of the two co-chairs after the US-led invasion
of Iraq in 2003.
The proposed bilateral contact comes in the wake of Mr Chinmaya R Gharekhan's four-
day visit to Baghdad earlier this year. Mr Gharekhan is Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh's special envoy for West Asia. Mr Gharekhan had met with the Iraqi premier and
ministers of industry, oil, trade and higher education.
Officials said a visit by a delegation from the Iraqi oil ministry is also on the cards. In
addition to contributing to reconstruction work, New Delhi has offered to facilitate the
training of personnel engaged in the Iraqi oil industry besides hosting diplomats and
pilots for advanced learning courses.
Meanwhile, India has donated 15 thousand metric tonnes of wheat for Iraqi children
through the World Food Programme's emergency operation. "This is an extremely timely
donation and WFP is very grateful to the Government of India for its continuing support
and generosity," said Gian Pietro Bordignon, WFP Country Director in India.
The wheat is to be transformed by local Indian manufacturers into 3,331 metric tonnes of
fortified high-energy biscuits, valued at approximately 2.4 million dollars, which will be
distributed among the nearly two million Iraqi children registered in WFP's food-for-
education programme.
No comments:
Post a Comment