Tuesday, 9 February 2010
The India trip of President Abdullah Gul began on Sunday February 7, 2010 with his 80 member delegation.
President Gul said efforts would be underway to seek for possibilities in boosting cooperation on economic and commercial relations. The relations between the Turkish and Indian movie sector will also be discussed during the trip.
Prime Minister Gul said that Turkey’s economic cooperation with India has huge potential. “Turkish companies and business people may launch joint enterprises. They may invest in India and both countries may launch joint investments in third countries," President Gül told a news conference prior to his departure for India.
Gul said India ranked the second biggest country in the world with respect to population and the third biggest country with respect to gross national product. Although India has the third biggest economy in the world, at the same time it is still a developing country. It is the best of the world in information technology and in computer software. However, it is a developing country when its population is taken into consideration. India also has a very large infrastructure deficiency; 600 billion USD infrastructure investments will be made to India in the medium term. It is very important for Turkey to visit this country with a robust delegation of businesspeople.
It is believed that this trip will also put a new face on the movie sector of Turkey. For this reason, many important people such as actors, actresses, producers and film directors from the movie sector accompanied President Gul. The most surprising name who is accompanying President Gul on his visit to India is the producer and director Sinan Cetin, who is known for his support of the Justice and Development Party in recent years. Cetin said, “Because the Bollywood movie industry is the biggest sector in the world, it is important to have good relations between Bollywood and Turkey.”
It is reported that Gul will visit the historical and touristic places of Delhi. An honorary doctorate will also be given to President Gul at the University of Amity.
President Abdullah Gul will leave Mumbai on February 12 and will go to the capital of Bangladesh for official contacts for one day. Gul said he would meet Bangladesh's President Mohammad Zillur Rahman, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, Finance Minister Abu Maal Abdul Muhith and have meetings with the representatives of the business world within the scope of the Turkey-Bangladesh Business Forum during his 2-day visit.
According to the Indian Express, Prime Minister Singh will convey his disappointments that they were not invited to a regional conference about Afghanistan that was hosted in Istanbul on January 26 in Turkey and chaired by Abdullah Gul. As some sources have stated, India was not invited at the behest of Pakistan.
The bilateral talk is also expected to include the issues of terrorism, Afghanistan and the international community.
USAK Center for Eurasian Studies researcher Salih Dogan commented on Gul’s visit to India and said that the timing of the visit is really important for Turkey-India relations. “India was disappointed because of not being invited to the Istanbul Summit on Friendship and Cooperation in the Heart of Asia and it was reported that Pakistan was the reason for that situation” said Dogan, adding that “President Gul and his counterpart Pratibha Patil will probably have a talk regarding this problem and the tension will be relaxed before a bigger problem occurs.” Dogan also pointed out the close relationship between Turkey and Pakistan and said, “Turkey could help India and Pakistan to come together to solve the Kashmir problem as the peace process was stalled by the Mumbai terrorist attack in November 2008, after 5-years of successful dialogue.”
President Abdullah Gul’s Schedule During His Visit in India includes:
Today (Feb.9), at 9.30 a.m., President Gül is scheduled to attend a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan’s forecourt. Later, at 10.00 a.m, he will lay wreath at Mahatma Gandhi’s samadhi.
At 10.35 a.m., President Gul is scheduled to meet Minister of External Affairs S.M.Krishna at The Oberoi hotel.
At 11.20 a.m. President Gul is scheduled to meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and hold delegation level talks at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi.
At 1.15 p.m., President Gul will attend a Businees meet at the Oberoi hotel, which is being organized by ASSOCHAM/CII/FICCI.
At 4.00 p.m., Turkey President Gul will meet Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari at the hotel.
At 4.45 p.m. Gul will meet the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj at the same hotel.
At 5.30 p.m., President Gul will meet Congress President and United Progressive Alliance chairman Sonia Gandhi.
At 7.30 p.m., Turkey President will meet Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil.
At 8.00 p.m., a banquet will be hosted at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in his honour.
On Wednesday (Feb.10), at 11.00 a.m. President Gul will fly to Agra, the city of Taj Mahal in Uttar Pradesh and attend a programme.
At 3.00 p.m., Gul is then scheduled to fly to Mumbai to attend a programme.
On Thursday (Feb.11), Gul is to attend a programme in Mumbai.
On Friday (Feb.12), President Gul is scheduled to leave for Dhaka at 11.05 a.m.
