Lao President visits Republic of India

Lao President visits Republic of India

(KPL) President of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Choummaly Sayasone, is on a five-day visit to India from 26-30 August, to strengthen bilateral ties and he was welcomed by the President of India, Pratibha Devisingh Patil and the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh at the Presidential Palace in New Delhi on 27 of August.
When President Choummaly talked to them he said that he was happy to visit India and that the two countries were now enjoying a relationship of friendship and co-operation.
This visit, the President said, is in a way a follow-up of a visit by a former president of Laos, Souphanouvong in 1977.
The two presidents updated one another on the on the socio-economic development of their countries and they said to one another that their countries shared warm, deep-rooted and traditionally friendly relations, which were characterized by mutual understanding and cooperation in several areas
President Choummaly also expressed his gratitude for the support that India had given to Laos and commented on the important role of India as a member of the International Inspection Commission.
This body is responsible for implementing the principles of the Geneva Convention on Indochina.
A special focus of the visit was developing bilateral trade and economic cooperation.
However, both sides said they would review bilateral relations in science and technology, information, industry, agriculture, defense and culture.
President Choummaly thanked the President of India for India’s assistance to Laos in the development of human resources, scholarships, agriculture, science, technology, national defense, relief aid for the victims of natural disasters and low interest loans.
The both presidents also exchanged their experiences on bilateral co-operation, they said they saw the need for ongoing exchange visits between high-ranking officials of the two countries and they agreed to complete the various contracts
that the two sides had signed
The Lao President touched on Laos need and requested India to provide low interest loans to fund various projects in Laos and to give support to one another in international and regional diplomacy.
The leader of the opposition party, Sonia Gandhi, also warmly welcomed the President of Laos.