On February 20, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov received the newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of India to Turkmenistan, Madhumita Hazarika Bhagat.

 The diplomat presented her credentials to the head of state and conveyed warm words of greetings from the President of India Draupadi Murmu and the Prime Minister of the country Narendra Modi.  It was emphasized that India attaches great importance to the development of cooperation with Turkmenistan.

 During the meeting, it was noted that India is one of Turkmenistan’s important partners in the South Asian region.  The countries cooperate productively in the trade and economic sphere, including in such industries as the fuel, energy and transport sectors, agriculture, and textile industry.

 In this regard, the parties noted great opportunities and potential for building up partnership on a long-term basis, primarily in energy and transport.

 In this context, the importance of the implementation of the project for the construction of the transnational gas pipeline Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) was noted.  Its implementation will contribute to the development of the economies of the participating countries, the creation of new jobs, the construction of social and industrial infrastructure, and the attraction of large foreign investments.

 The healthcare sector was also named as one of the current areas of bilateral cooperation, where effective ties have been established over the past years.  A clear example here is the interaction with Indian companies in the pharmaceutical industry.

 An integral component of interstate relations are humanitarian contacts – through science, education and culture, which the parties are ready to continue to expand.  It was noted that Turkmen youth are studying in higher educational institutions in India, and the Hindi language is taught at the Turkmen National Institute of World Languages.