Hakob Arshakyan, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, Head of the Armenia-India Friendship Group, met with Om Birla, Speaker of the Lok Sabha of the Parliament of the Republic of India, within the framework of the 8th conference "Raisina Dialogue 2023" held in New Delhi on March 2.

The Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly thanked Om Birla for warmly welcoming and hosting the delegation he led. He noted that this conference provides an excellent opportunity to hold bilateral meetings and discuss issues of mutual interest. Armenia attaches importance to bilateral and multilateral cooperation with India. The Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly stated with satisfaction that since the establishment of diplomatic relations, in the last 30 years, there have been many mutual officials and working visits, which testify to the high level of friendly relations between the two countries.

Hakob Arshakyan referred to Azerbaijan's aggression as the fact that that country has grossly violated the obligations assumed by itself in the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020, and closed the Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to the outside world. The security of 120,000 Armenians is under direct threat, and the supply of food, other essential goods, and energy supplies to Artsakh has been disrupted. He noted that Armenia highly appreciates the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India, which emphasizes that the Azerbaijani armed forces must withdraw from the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, and highlights the condemnation voiced by the Indian side of the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against Armenia in September of last year and of Lachin from December 2022, in connection with the blockade of the corridor.

The Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly noted that since May 12, 2021, the Azerbaijani armed forces have violated the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia three times and illegally invaded the sovereign territory of Armenia.

Lok Sabha Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of India Om Birla, welcoming the RA NA delegation, noted that he attached importance to the deepening of friendly ties between the two parliaments and emphasized that such visits and bilateral contacts promote cooperation and contribute to the development of relations between the two countries in various formats.

The Speaker of the Parliament of India expressed his solidarity and support to the Republic of Armenia and the Armenian people in overcoming the existing challenges.

Hakob Arshakyan emphasized that he attaches particular importance to developing and strengthening inter-parliamentary relations between Armenia and India. The Deputy Speaker of the Parliament noted that the Armenia-India friendship group operated under his leadership in the RA National Assembly and emphasized that it would be great to form a friendship group with Armenia in the Indian Parliament, which would create an excellent opportunity for active and close cooperation.

Armenia is interested in developing mutually beneficial cooperation with friendly India in various fields, including trade, transport and communication, defense, healthcare, agriculture, culture, science and education, information and high technologies, tourism, etc.

At the end of the meeting, the Speaker of the National Assembly of India expressed hope that he would host the delegation led by the Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia in New Delhi.

Hakob Arshakyan conveyed to the speaker of the National Assembly of India the invitation of the President of the National Assembly of Armenia to visit Armenia.

The parties also discussed other issues of bilateral interest.

Armenia-India friendship group members Aren Mkrtchyan and Tsovinar Vardanyan, RA Ambassador to India Yuri Babakhanyan, also participated in the meeting.