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Banquet Speech by the Prime Minister of India H.E Dr. Manmohan Singh on the occasion of the visit of Bulgarian Prime Minister to India (September 10-15, 2007)
Your Excellency Prime Minister Stanishev,
Ladies and Gentlemen
On behalf of the Government and people of India it gives me immense pleasure to welcome you, along with all the distinguished members of your delegation to India.
Excellency,
Your visit is an important milestone in our relations that are rooted in history and steeped in antiquity. It is a coming together of two old friends.
Excellency, Bulgaria is a country that we have known intimately for the last several decades. The works of Georgi Rakovski and Boris Georgiev, the beauty of Varna, and the students of the Indira Gandhi School in Sofia and Kindergarten in Pravetz have all contributed to the fund of goodwill and friendship that exists between us. Rabindranath Tagore’s visit in 1926 captured the imagination of intellectuals on both sides and laid the foundation of the study of Indology in Bulgaria.
Today we welcome you as the modern face of Bulgaria. We admire your spirit of enterprise and your values of democracy, pluralism and human rights. We celebrate Bulgaria’s accession to the European Union. We know that this is good for Bulgaria, good for Europe, and good for India.
Indo-Bulgarian relations are unique. They are not directed against anyone. There are no irritants. Their sole objective is the betterment of the lives of our two peoples. They contribute to international peace and prosperity.
We have today pledged to shape a partnership that befits the new world order. A partnership that reflects our contemporary strengths and complementarities. Let us reconnect ourselves and rediscover the benefits of more trade, more investment and more intellectual and cultural interaction. The frontiers of science and technology beckon us to do more. Our task is easy because it is built on the foundation of shared interests and complete mutual trust. It is essential, if we have to meet the aspirations of our peoples.
Excellency,
We have convergent views on many international issues. We look forward to working with you to strengthen the United Nations so that it reflects today’s realities, and on key issues of energy security, civil nuclear cooperation, climate change, and terrorism.
Our talks have been held in an atmosphere of utmost warmth and cordiality. We have reached concrete outcomes. India is grateful for your friendship, which has stood the test of time. We highly value this friendship, and reciprocate it in full measure.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I request you to join me in a toast to
- the health of His Excellency Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev,
- the further strengthening of the multisectoral cooperation between India and Bulgaria, and
- the ever-growing friendship and goodwill between the peoples of our two countries.
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