Turkish President expected to visit India in Feb

Turkish Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Sahin said Thursday Turkey and India could participate in joint energy projects and steps taken in this direction should continue.

Sahin received Indian Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pawan Kumar Bansal in Ankara on Thursday.

We watch with great admiration the dynamism and development of India, a country so important for the world, Sahin said.

I am pleased to see the existence of a political will to develop and diversify relations between Turkey and India, Sahin noted.

Bansal's visit to Turkey is a clear sign of the existence of such a political will, Sahin said.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul will travel to India in February on an official trip. I hope that this visit would help relations gain momentum, Sahin said.

Our two parliaments play a crucial role in developing relations between Turkey and India. President Gul will take with him the chairperson of the Turkish-Indian Inter-parliamentary Friendship Group and two members of this group, Sahin said.

Pointing out that an Indian-Turkish Inter-parliamentary Friendship Group was not established following the elections in India, Sahin requested from Bansal to help the establishment of such a group.

The trade volume between Turkey and India in 2008 was worth around three billion USD. This figure is not satisfactory. There is a potential to boost the trade volume, Sahin said.

A commercial agreement to be signed by our respective countries will make serious contribution to the relations, Sahin said.

We can realize important projects in the field of energy, Sahin said.

Bansal, in his part, said that there were common values that tied Turkey and India.

Our two countries pay high attention to democracy and have peoples that are independent in secular foundations, Bansal stressed.

India possesses 12 different religions. All of these religions live in a country full of (cultural) differences, Bansal said.

Reminding that an Indian-Turkish Inter-parliamentary Friendship Group was formed following the recent elections in India, Bansal said that this group could not be too active as a very new group.

I believe that relations between our (friendship) groups would be strengthened after President Gul visits India, Bansal also said.

/World Bulletin/