New Delhi: The Vice President said that India, which represents one sixth of the global population, has a rightful claim to the permanent membership of the United Nation’s Security Council and thanked the Lithuanian Prime Minister for extending support to India in various multilateral fora.
On the third day of his tri-nation Baltic tour, the Vice President met with the Prime Minister of Lithuania, Saulius Skvernelis, the Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, Viktoras Pranckietis and addressed the India-Lithuania business forum before emplaning for Riga, Latvia where he addressed the Indian community in the evening.
During his interaction with the Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis, the Vice President stressed the need for enlarging and democratizing the UN Security Council. He sought Lithuania’s support for India’s claim for permanent membership of the Security Council.
Observing that terror has become a big global menace and is the enemy of mankind, Naidu called for early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism by the UN, which was mooted by India in the UN in 1996.
The Vice President said that the cooperation between the parliamentarians of the two nations should be enhanced for promoting peace, prosperity and well being of the people of the two countries.
Stating that both the countries enjoyed close cultural ties, he appreciated Lithuanian Universities for promoting Indology studies and also expressed his happiness over the publication of Comparative Dictionary of 108 Common Lithuanian and Sanskrit words and ‘History of Lithuania’ in Hindi.
Earlier, addressing India-Lithuania Business Forum the Vice President urged Lithuanian businessmen to tap the immense opportunities in India, which has a rising middle class market comparable to the European Union.
Naidu referred to rapid growth in construction of national highways and the ambitious plans to develop more than a 100 rivers as national waterways and added: “These programs will vastly improve connectivity, and prove as catalysts for industrialization and to take our trade and investment to a new level”.
Later, addressing the Indian community in Riga, the capital of, the Vice President said that Latvia and India enjoy friendly and cordial relations which have been growing steadily in diverse spheres since the establishment of our diplomatic relations in 1991. “India is committed to strengthening its relations with Latvia in all spheres, including business and investment, cultural and academic cooperation and people to people-to-people connect”, he added.
The Vice President said that India was proud of the contributions made by its 30 million-strong Diaspora all over the world. “You have been helpful in bringing foreign investments, technology, expertise and goodwill to India”, he added.
He said that Latvia and India can become important partners as the world economy progresses towards the 4th Industrial Revolution where IT, High-tech, Artificial Intelligence and innovations will play key roles. “I see a lot of scope for Indian and Latvian companies to engage in new-age technologies through partnership and collaboration”, he added.
