Today early in the morning the state visit of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon to the Republic of India continued with the solemn official welcome ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan Presidential Palace.

After the solemn ceremony of welcome, the Head of State Emomali Rahmon laid a wreath near the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi as a symbol of particular respect to national, historical and cultural values of India, as well as affixed his signature in the guest book.

The issues regarding the current state and further development of multidimensional cooperation between the two countries have been reviewed at the meeting of the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon with the Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh.

The discussion of urgent issues firstly was held at the tete-a-tete meeting of Emomali Rahmon and Manmohan Singh, then at the official negotiations with participation of delegations of both countries.

Both sides reaffirmed their keen interest in the enhancement of economic, trade and investment cooperation in the areas of energy, transport, agriculture, tourism and industry, particularly in the domains of prospecting and processing of minerals, chemicals, pharmaceutics and production of construction materials.

It was stressed that the progress of interaction in spheres of science and education, health, culture, sports and friendly exchange between the youth organizations has good prospects.

Emomali Rahmon invited Manmohan Singh to visit Tajikistan in any convenient time.

Afterwards 6 new cooperation documents have been signed between Tajikistan and India at the presence of Emomali Rahmon and Manmohan Singh:

Agreement between the Ministry of Health of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Republic of India on Cooperation in the Areas of Health and Medicine;

Agreement between the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Labor and Employment of India on Cooperation in the Area of Social Relations and Labor;

Exchange Program between the Government of Tajikistan and the Government of India on Cooperation in Education;

Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Energy and Industry of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Spinning of India on Cooperation in the Sphere of Weaving;

Program of Cooperation between the Government of Tajikistan and the Government of India in the Area of Culture and Craft for 2013-2015;

Memorandum of Understanding between the Committee for Youth, Sports and Tourism under the Government of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of India on Cooperation in the Area of Sports and Youth.

During the press-conference Emomali Rahmon and Manmohan Singh highly evaluated the results of official meetings and negotiations and called the development of relations between the two countries in the near future as promising.

Manmohan Singh stated in particular that “Tajikistan is a key partner of India in the Central Asia”. “We have decided to elevate the relations between India and Tajikistan to the level of strategic partnership”, - highlighted the Indian Prime Minister. He also added that “India supports the efforts of Tajikistan in joining the World Trade Organization”.

According to statements of the heads of states, both sides have agreed to increase the number of educational quotas of India for Tajik students from 100 to 150. The establishment of centre for implementation of various modern technologies of India in Tajikistan has been called as one of the important steps for elevating the mutually beneficial cooperation of both countries to a qualitatively new level.

It was stressed that the two states will take efforts for establishing direct transport links, including railways.