H.E. Mr. Amar Ghoul, Minister of Transport and H.E. Mr. Mohamed Tahmi, Minister of Youth & Sports, Excellencies, Heads of Missions and my colleagues, Members of Diplomatic Corps and my Algerian Brothers & Sisters.
Today, we are celebrating the 64th Anniversary of our Republic Day. India became a Republic on 26 January, 1950 after gaining independence in August, 1947. This day marked the complete independence of India with its own Constitution and on that day we pledged a ‘rule of people, for the people and by the people’. Our democracy, the largest one in the world, has survived all the challenges and problems successfully and magnificently during the last 64 years. The best example of the same is the role of the ballot, which is again going to be tested in April this year when India goes for Parliamentary elections. People have always voted their conscience and have changed governments smoothly through the ballot box.
2. Algeria also is a functional democracy though our systems may be somewhat different. Algeria goes for Presidential elections around the same time when campaigning in India would be at its zenith. I may also mention that when more than 520 million electors cast their votes, they do not do it on paper but through Electronic Voting Machines which are sent to the remotest corners of India. India is the only country which has this ultra-modern fool-proof system of electronic voting. While the paperless elections save a lot of forests and trees on the one hand, the results are also available within 24 hours of the votes being cast. In nutshell, one has to be physically there, to see the vastness and depth of our democratic system.
3. India and Algeria have historical and very strong bilateral relations. We celebrated 50 Years of Establishment of Diplomatic Relations with Algeria last year along with the 50th Anniversary of Algeria’s Independence. Our Minister of State for External Affairs H.E. Mr. E. Ahamed visited Algiers to mark this occasion in April, 2013, and during his visit renewed our commitment to each other when he met H.E. Mr. Abdelmalek Sellal, Prime Minister and H.E. Mr. Mourad Medelci, the then Foreign Minister of Algeria. We also chalked out a Roadmap for furthering our ties in various fields. We have various mechanisms for promoting bilateral relations including the Ministerial Joint Commission, Foreign Office Consultations, Joint Business Council etc. India-Algeria Foreign Office Consultations took place in October 2013. Unfortunately, the Joint Commission scheduled to take place in November last year could not be held, and I hope would be held as soon as the electoral process in India is over, if not before.
4. Our commercial and trade linkages are quite strong with a bilateral trade turnover of around US$3 billion and Indian exports of over US$1 billion to Algeria. Our exports comprise of a mixed basket including vehicles & spare-parts, pharmaceuticals, machinery & equipment, chemicals and food items etc. India is an energy-deficit country, and thus we import oil and natural gas from Algeria. We always stand for medium to long term contracts for supply of crude oil and natural gas to India, and in this context, a delegation from SONATRACH visited India in July, 2013. There is still a large potential of improving our economic and commercial ties since there is a lot of complementarity which exists between India and Algeria. India has been training Algerians in various fields and more than 40 Algerian trainees go to India every year. India is keen to collaborate in the field of information & communication technology (ICT), construction sector, small & medium enterprises, management etc. The field of remote sensing and satellite technology are also important for further collaboration between the two countries. I do not wish to go into more details on bilateral relations between India and Algeria, but I need to state that we wish to take this to newer heights because of the potential.
5. I congratulate the Algerian football team for its qualification to the World Cup finals taking place in Brazil this year. Fortunately or unfortunately, our country of 1.2 billion people does not play football at that level, and therefore, there is no Indian challenge to Algeria in Brazil in that field. I wish the ‘Desert Foxes’ all the very best for their games in Brazil this summer. Once again, I take this opportunity to thank you all for your esteemed presence, and wish you all the very best on this occasion of 64th Anniversary of India’s Republic Day. Thank you.
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