New Delhi
9 February 2010
President Abdullah Gul of Turkey said India would be welcome at a conference on
Afghanistan to be hosted by his country later this year, making amends for India's
exclusion from the January 26 Istanbul conference. New Delhi had lodged a protest with
Ankara for keeping it out of the conference, apparently at the behest of Islamabad.
Mr Gul is on a five-day State visit to India.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Gul held delegation-level
talks, towards the end of which both sides adopted a joint declaration on terrorism and
another on science and technology cooperation.
Turkey became the first member of Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) to issue a
joint declaration with India against terrorism. It denounces "those who sponsor, abet and
instigate terrorism and provide them safe havens".
A press release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs said President Gul underlined
that the special relationship between Turkey and Pakistan does not in any way create
obstructions for Turkey-India relations, which Turkey intends to carry forward.
The two countries agreed to work together with other like-minded countries for the
finalisation of Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) at the
earliest.
The two sides also discussed regional issues such as Afghanistan.
Earlier in the day, addressing the captains of Indian industry here, President Gul said
India and Turkey will try to conclude a Free Trade Agreement currently under negotiation.
He indicated that while the technical negotiations were nearly over, some issues needed
to be tied up.
No comments:
Post a Comment