CHANDIGARH, MARCH 30:‘International Conference on Cooperative Development, Peace and Security in South and Central Asia’ was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Finance Minister of India Mr. Pranab Mukherjee at the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID) here today.
At the conference Mr. Pranab Mukherjee talked about the foreign policies, issues relating to education, economy and the free society. He further said, “Conferences like these would demarcate India’s willingness and capacity as an emerging power to take South and Central Asia into a phase of fast social and economic transformation.”
During the function M.J. Akbar, Additional Director of India Today, stressed the need for connectivity and cooperation among neighbouring countries to build harmonious relations.
On the overview of the event Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, Special Secretary (Public Diplomacy), Ministry of External Affairs, discussed about the challenges faced by the various countries. Issues related to mutual interest like trade, investment, joint ventures, health and education were discussed at the conference.
A total of 23 delegates from Uzbekistan, Russia, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Russia and other countries attended the conference. The vote of thanks for today’s deliberations was delivered by Prof R P Bambah. He said that discussions like these should help the participating countries in understanding the various challenges being faced by each other and come together to resolve the issues and more towards success.