INDIA BELARUS RELATIONS

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Context: Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh reached Tashkent, Uzbekistan on a three-day official visit. On the first day of his engagements, Shri Rajnath Singh held bilateral meetings with his Uzbek counterpart Lieutenant General Bakhodir Kurbanov; Defence Minister of Kazakhstan Colonel General Zhaksylykov Ruslan Zhakslykov and Belarusian Defence Minister Lieutenant General Viktor Khrenin. 

 

Background:

 

Political

• India was one of the first countries to recognize Belarus as independent country in 1991.
• President Alexander Lukashenko visited India in 1997, 2007 and 2017; Rashtrapatiji visited Minsk in June 2015; India's Vice President visited Minsk in 2005.
• Indian PM and Belarusian President met for the first time in Tashkent in June 2016 on the sidelines of 15th Summit of SCO Heads of State and again exchanged greetings during the SCO Summits in Astana in May 2017, and in Qingdao in June 2018.
• Belarus has been supportive of India’s candidature for a permanent seat at the UNSC and for the non-permanent seat of UNSC for the years 2011-12.
• Belarus also supported India at the NSG session in Seoul in April 2016. Belarus supported India's various candidature for ICJ, IMO, ITU, WCO, FAO, ICAO and IMO.
• The two countries have signed a number of important agreements/MoUs for cooperation in various areas namely, trade and economic cooperation, cultural, educational, media and sports, S&T, foreign office consultations, IGC, Avoidance of Double Taxation, defence and technical cooperation and BIT.

 

Economic and Commercial

• Given the small size of the Belarusian market, bilateral trade at US$ 472 million in 2018 (Belarusian figures) is fairly respectable.
• India granted Market Economy Status to Belarus in 2015.
• The Government of India also announced a credit line of US$ 100 million to Belarus during the state visit of Rashtrapatijit to Minsk in June 2015, which has not been utilized so far.
• BHEL was awarded a contract worth US$ 55.5 million under GoI credit line for the supply and installation of equipment and machinery for the Grodno Power Project-II. The project was commissioned in June 2013. It is running successfully.
• A Digital Learning Centre in ICT at High Technology Park in Minsk with GoI’s assistance of Rs. 5 crore was set up and is operational since February 2011.

 

Pharmaceuticals, Medical and Healthcare

• Since 2016, four joint ventures between Indian and Belarusian pharmaceutical companies have been established. Sun Pharma and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, have resident offices in Minsk.
• In August 2018 “Yusuf Hamied Pharma R&D Center” was inaugurated at the premises of Academfarm of the National Academy of Science (NAS) of the Republic of Belarus in Minsk.

Science & Technology

• S&T is an important component of bilateral relations as Belarus has a good and high quality human resources and strong scientific and technological establishment.
• DRDO and DST on the Indian side and the Belarus’ State Committee on Science & Technology and Belarus Academy of Sciences are engaged with each other in areas of mutual interest.

 

Culture & Education

• A bust of Mahatma Gandhi was unveiled in the campus of the Belarus State University in Minsk by Rashtrapatiji during his State Visit to Belarus in June 2015.
• Belarus is a beneficiary of India’s ITEC programme. There are over 320 ITEC alumni in Belarus.
• The Indian community in Belarus is minuscule with around 78 Indian nationals and 600 students, mostly studying medicine in Belarusian medical universities.

 

Belarus:

• Location: Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe.
• Borders: It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest.
• Capital: Minsk is the capital and largest city.

https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1853955