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Preneet Kaur and Audronius Ažubalis. Vilnius, 1.04.2011. Photo: urm.lt

“The signed agreement is the first step on the path towards a broader, more diverse and interesting business cooperation between Lithuania and India,” Minister A.Ažubalis said.

The Minister noted that India was the most important trading partner of Lithuania in Asia, as Lithuania’s exports to this country were of higher-value than exports to China or Japan, informed BC Lithuanian Foreign Ministry.

Lithuanian exports to India in 2010 amounted to 376 million Litas (108.90 EUR), and imports reached 75 million Litas (21.72 EUR).

“We want to maintain the good momentum of economic cooperation growth and hope that this will be facilitated by the Indian Embassy, ​​which is expected to open in Vilnius, as well as by the ongoing negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and India. We believe that the negotiations will be completed successfully,” the head of the Lithuanian diplomacy said.

The Memorandum of Cooperation between the Indian – Baltic Chamber of Commerce (IBCC) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) was also signed on the same day at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“I think that the agreements, which were signed today, will lead to more mutual investments. Private entrepreneurs from both countries with the help of the governments and chambers of commerce will be able to take advantage of them, and, I am sure that our trade volumes will increase,” P.Kaur said.

Prior to the signing, the ministers held a meeting to discuss the cooperation between Lithuania and India in the fields of economy, culture and education.

Minister A.Ažubalis stressed that Lithuania was the only Baltic State that had the Embassy in India, and Lithuanian universities were the only ones in the Baltic countries that had an extensive India studies programme. The Minister mentioned the similarity between the Lithuanian language and Sanskrit, and encouraged India to initiate the Lithuanian language teaching programme at the country’s universities, and also invited Indian students to study the Lithuanian language in Lithuania.

According to the Lithuanian Foreign Minister, next year Lithuania and India will mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, which would be an excellent occasion for India’s top officials to visit Lithuania.

Minister A.Ažubalis said that Lithuania spoke in favor of the United Nations and its Security Council’s reform and consistently supported the permanent seat of India, which belongs to the Group of Four (G4), in the reformed Security Council.

The Group of Four (G4) has called for new national permanent seats in the reformed UN Security Council and is composed of India and three other super states: Brazil, Germany, and Japan.

Currently, there are two major Indian investments in Lithuania: company Indorama in Klaipėda, a manufacturer of plastic bottles, and the company IDEAL INVENT Technologies Pvt Ltd, specializing in information technologies (IT), which is establishing a Scientific Research and Technology Development Centre in Vilnius. On 30 September 2010, India’s direct investments in Lithuania amounted to 1.6 million Litas (0.46 EUR).