Indo-Venezuelan Parliamentary Friendship group launched on May 22: embindia.org/events/FriendshipGroup22May.php. H.E. Mr. Dario Viva, First Vice President of the National Assembly of Venezuela chaired the meeting for the launch of the India-Venezuela Parliamentary Friendship Group on 22nd May 2014 in the National Assembly of Venezuela. Both sides re-affirmed their commitment to strengthen bilateral relations through this Group. Ms. Smita Purushottam, Ambassador of India gave the following speech: “Good morning, Esteemed Deputy Darío Vivas, First Vice Presidente of the National Assembly Deputy Yul Jabour, President of the Permanent Commission on Foreign Policy, Sovereignty and Integration of the NA. Deputy Zulay Martínez, President of the Indo Venezuela Parliamentary Friendship group Mr. Xoan Noya, Vice Minister for Asia, Middle East and Oceania of the foreign ministry. Deputies Eduardo Lima, Juan García Escalona, Juan de Sousa, Rosa León Bravo, members of the Indo Venezuela Parliamentary Friendship group Ms Lolybeth Bravo Rojas, Secretary of the Indo Venezuela Parliamentary Friendship group Wilson Loaiza, Director Strategic of International Relations of the National Assembly, and Others We sincerely appreciate the decision of the Venezuelan national assembly to form an Indo-Venezuelan Friendship group and we thank all preset here, thank you very much for this important gesture. You are all very busy and we appreciate very much your presence here. We thank the Venezuelan Government and Pres Maduro for the warm message of congratulations extended to the new Government of India. It has been a historic result after the longest election campaign in Indian history and with the worlds largest electorate delivering a clear and unambiguous verdict. India is now poised to achieve great economic progress under the new leadership in coming years. We invite Venezuela to join us in promoting mutual economic progress and cooperation. This is an important dimension of our relationship. There was an Indo Venezuelan friendship group in the Indian parliament but since the parliament has just been re-elected, the Friendship Group will have to be recreated again and we have written to our ministry in this regard. I am happy at the formation of this group which complements India’s relationship with Venezuela in the energy and other sectors. As you know, because of the goodwill Venezuela has for India, Venezuela is now the third largest provider of oil to India. This is an astonishing testament of our good relations. We have been repeatedly assured by the Venezuelan side that they will meet India’s energy requirements and this is appreciated in India. The second meeting of the Joint Commission was also held recently and that is another milestone in our relations. India and Venezuela cooperate actively in international forums to push the development agenda and protect the interests of the whole developing world. We hope through this group to strengthen and expand our bilateral relations and we hope that you can visit India in the near future and that the Indo-Venezuelan Friendship group in India can also visit Venezuela to explore this potential. Venezuela is a very wealthy country with enormous potential, huge natural resources and extraordinary beauty and can be a great partner for India. With a new government coming in, the Indian economy is also expected to grow and provide new opportunities for cooperation. We hope our relationship is consolidated even further and again wish to express our thanks for this ceremony and to all the esteemed dignitaries who have graced this location. Let us work for progress in our mutually beneficial relationship.”
Posted on: Mon, 26 May 2014 15:46:37 +0000