To commemorate 68th Independence Day of India,
Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO (IAF) in collaboration with Embassy of India to
Armenia organized a Hiking Trip to scale Mt. Aragats, which is the highest
Mountain peak of Armenia.
Aragats, the highest mountain in contemporary Armenia, is a
single extinct volcano with a crater, that has become an Ice Basin (About 400 m
deep). This extinct volcano has formed 4 peaks; the northern peak is 4090m
above sea level; the western, eastern and southern peaks are 4080m, 3916m,
3879m high respectively.
Mt. Aragats is also famous for its beautiful mountain lake
KARI. It’s located 3250m above sea level having perimeter of 1150m.
While reaching the base-camp of Lake Kari, one can see the
Tent-Homes of Armenian Yezidis at
different places in mountain range. According to one opinion, Yezidis are
believed to be descendents of Indian Hindus.
It took almost 8 hours to complete the hiking trip from base
camp to mount summit and back.
The whole team felt proud when they captured the victory
moment of the group with respective national flags of both countries.
Indeed it was a different celebration of India’s
Independence Day!
Continuing the tradition of taking the group
photo exhibition “India through the Armenian Lens” to the different cities of
Armenia «Indo-Armenian Friendship» NGO in association with the Embassy of India
organized the exhibition in Ijevan, Tavush marz (region).
The exhibition is a part of “Indian cultural
days in Tavush” program dedicated to the 66th anniversary of Indian
Independence. The opening ceremony started on 9th of August at
“Vernatun” galleri, Ijevan. This time the exhibition was not only including the
photo collection of previous exhibitions but also paintings of two Armenian
artists Vardan Avetyan and Vladimir Soghomonyan under a different group exhibition
titled "Mystic reflections of India".
The distinguished guests of the opening ceremony were
Ambassador of India in Armenia, Dr. Suresh Babu, Vice-Governor of Tavush region
Mr. Levon Sargsyan, Mayor of Ijevan Mr. Vardan Ghalumyan and chief of department
of Culture at the municipality of Ijevan Mrs Lilit Ghalumyan.
The opening
speech was given by Lusine Toroyan genral secretary of «Indo-Armenian
Friendship» NGO. She presented the purpose of organizing the exhibition and
welcomed all guests on behalf of the president and vice-president of the NGO Mr
Rananjay Anand and Mrs Ruzanna Ashughyan. Thanking the organizers for initiating the
project “Indian cultural days in Tavush” the distinguished guests mentioned
especially the necessity of organizing more and frequent events dedicated to
the friendship of the two respective countries.
Afterwards the audiences were
invited to the Cultural House of Ijevan where in the framework of the project Indian
films of various genres will be screened with Russian dubbing.
The events will continue till the 15th of August –
India’s 67th Independence Day.
The program is supported by the Embassy of India
in Armenia, Municipality of Ijevan and Ijevan wine-brandy factory.
On 17th
June 2013, Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO (IAF) organized a Round-Table
Conference dedicated to the theme “Indo-Armenian Relations: Challenges & Prospects” at Best Western Congress Hotel in Yerevan, Armenia. The Keynote
address of the conference was delivered by H.E. Dr. Suresh Babu, Hon.
Ambassador of India to Republic of Armenia.
The goal of the conference was to discuss
different prospects and their corresponding challenges between India and
Armenia in culture, trade, education, S&T, Sports and other relevant fields
in order to canvass a conductive environment for future relation developments
accordingly. The list of invitation included Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Ministry of Education, Science & Technology, Ministry of Economy,
Ministry of Diaspora, Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, Industry
Associations, Businessmen, YSMU and YSLU University Representatives, UNESCO
Chair in Armenia, NGOs and other relevant serious stakeholders.
The conference was sponsored by Esculap LLC
from Armenia and Druck & Bindung Machinery Corp. from India.
During the round-table discussion, which was meant to be quite
interactive, Indo-Armenian bilateral relations was discussed in different
perspectives by different participants and stakeholders who are interested in
the development of these relations.
Before starting the discussion, Mr. Rananjay Anand, Co-Founder & President of Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO gave a presentation about IAF with
its brief history and activities so far. He emphasized that there is a strong
need to tap the hidden potential of Indo-Armenian bilateral relations, and IAF
could be one of the strong multiplying forces to facilitate the same, provided
they have strong support from respective Governments and industry associations from
both respective countries. According to him, the business exchange between
India and Armenia is not encouraging, which could be translated as strong
opportunities for interested businessmen.
Time to Look Towards East
While delivering
the Keynote Address of the conference, the Indian Ambassador Dr. Suresh Babu
reiterated that after the collapse of Soviet Union, Armenia entered into a new
phase and India was among the first nations that recognized Armenia’s
Independence and established diplomatic relations with Republic of Armenia. He
said, “Indo-Armenian diplomatic understanding on world platform is excellent at
different levels and we’re now working to take this special relationship to
advance level. Recently we’ve concluded 20th anniversary of
establishment of Indo-Armenian diplomatic relationship.”
Dr. Babu
highlighted the need of sending cultural troupe from Armenia to India, as the
main obstacle is lack of awareness among Indians about Armenia.
He said, for Armenia, it’s time to look
towards east, especially towards natural friend like India, which is currently
playing a leading role in world economy. India has many things to offer to
Armenia as her partner, be it knowledge sharing, IT contribution, Business
exchange, Education collaboration or even sports. India offers ITEC scholarship
for its developing friendly countries, out of which 40 seats are offered to
Armenia in a year, which is a great initiative for knowledge sharing with
friend countries. The scholarship is completely borne by Govt. of India. Apart
from that India has signed MoUs with Govt. of Armenia for Scientific research
exchange. He said they are planning to bring in all these activities and
information on website, so that Armenian participants could benefit from the
same. He emphasized that Armenians have one of the best brains in the world for
IT and S&T, with which even India could be benefited.
Mr. Artyom Khachatryan, MFA
He underlined
the fact that the weakest link between Indo-Armenian relationships is
Trade-Deficit. The need of the hour is to encourage mutual development of
business. He said both of the countries are looking for the ways to develop the
same on higher scale. But the biggest challenge is spreading awareness and
showing the real prospects of investments in respective countries. He said if
Govt. of Armenia could work out soon on a direct flight from Delhi to Yerevan,
it would sort out few business-related issues.
He said
Armenia is already contributing to India in medical field with many of Indian
students studying in YSMU. However, it’s time to look beyond allopath and take
forward the benefits of Ayurveda and Yunani (Greek) methodology offered by
India. He said Govt. of India is already offering scholarship programs in both
courses, which is fully paid by Indian side. Armenian students should be
encouraged to pursue the same, so that they come back to Armenia, open their
clinic and practice with recognition from Govt. of Armenia.
Mr. Mikael Narimanyan, Rector, YSMU
The rector
of YSMU, Mr. Michael Narimanyan complemented this proposal from hon. Ambassador
by saying that YSMU is ready to collaborate in any research offered by India
and they would like to know more about traditional and conventional medical
system of India.
Ms. Lusine Fldjyan
Ms. Lusine Fldjyan, the Vice Rector for International Affairs, YSLU after Brusov came up with few suggestions in field of education collaborations between Indian and Armenia universities, which was well taken by the participants.
“We will
continue to show our support to Armenia in a very humble way”, said Dr. Babu.
Mr. Eduard
Kirakosyan, Executive Director of the Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen
(Employers) of Armenia said that union members have already partnership with
few Indian businessmen but it’s time to develop more.
Mr. H.
Sarafian from Esculap LLC said that since 1996 Esculap is in business with
Indian Pharma Manufacturers. This conference may bring the confidence in
Armenian consumers, as they have a certain apprehension about Indian medicines,
but company’s experience shows that it’s in par with European standard.
Bollywood Shooting in Armenia
Mr. Rananjay Anand, the President of IAF and moderator of the conference
highlighted in his presentation with special mention of Tourism Development,
which is considered to be one of the the main strengths of Armenian Economy. He
cited the UNWTO report, which predicts, India will supply about 50 Million Outbound
Tourists by 2020, which will be the largest outbound tourism market.
He
suggested if Govt. of Armenia could attract the “Bollywood Industry”, the Hindi
Movie Industry, it would change the complete scenario of Armenian Tourism
Market. The idea was strongly endorsed by Dr. Suresh Babu, Hon. Ambassador of
India, who said it’s not only about Bollywood, but India’s Southern parts too
are very rich in movie making and they vouch for beautiful foreign locations
across globe, provided they get excellent support and subsidies from host
country. So even if that part could be tapped, it will solve the purpose. It’s
not only about destination promotion, but directly it will increase employment
opportunities for local Armenians too. But for all this Govt. of Armenia should
come out with a strong and concrete plan to woo Bollywood Industry of India.
Mr. Mekhak Apresyan, Head of Tourism & Territorial
Economic Development Department Ministry of Economy
Responding
with enthusiasm, Mr. Mekhak Apresyan, the Head of Tourism & Territorial
Economic Development Department from Ministry of Economy stated that they would
like to look into this matter seriously and would like to discuss it further
with all stakeholders to explore how Govt. of Armenia could approach this in
right direction.
Mr. Pankaj
Saxena, HOC, Embassy of India informed that Armenia’s neighboring countries
Turkey and Georgia are doing this excellently and they are already reaping out
the results. He said if a country like Afghanistan, could attract Indian
Movie-Makers, then Armenia is far ahead of them.
Ice-breaking conference
Mr.
Rananjay Anand urged all participants of the conference to speak and
participate frankly in order to address the real issues. The participants
responded well and asked questions related to business problems in Armenia,
education opportunities in India and many relevant issues to the
representatives from both sides, i.e Indian Embassy and Ministries of Govt. of
Armenia. In an answer to the question from a science enthusiast, Ms. Lilit
Vardanyan, from UNESCO Chair in Armenia and also in-charge of IAF’s Science
& Technology Club, said that she got scholarship from Govt. of India in her
scientific researches and she could do her researches in such a manner, which
she couldn’t find in even European Institutes and that helped her to contribute
back to Armenia in her research with Lake Sevan’s water project.
While
concluding the conference Mr. Rananjay Anand thanked all participants and
stakeholders and announced that this is just beginning. If they have support
from all stakeholders, IAF could come up with more events like this.
On 1st April Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO in collaboration
with “Tsil Busats” children’s harmonious development centre organized the event
“Holi and Easter celebrations with children in Armenia” dedicated to Indian
Holi and Armenian Easter. The newly appointed Ambassador of India to the
Republic of Armenia H. E. Dr. Suresh Babu was the chief guest of the event. Other embassy staff were also present with their family members.
Paintings by children
The main
goal of the event was to make children aware of the traditions of India and
Armenia. These children are specially trained to paint their expressions
through their feelings while listening to the music. They had a special lesson
dedicated to Indian Holi festival during which they were told an Indian legend
about Holi.
At the event the children presented to the guests their own
paintings which were painted under the Indian traditional music and were
showing their expressions about India. Then with the help of Ms. Moli Gayan the
children were learning how to wear the Indian traditional dress - SARI.
The
Armenian folk dance group “Sasun” was invited to perform traditional Armenian dances. Children also had
prepared Armenian dances and songs dedicated to Easter and some small
performances. Expressing his impressions Mr. Ambassador said that it was really
nice to see children’s performance and especially their spectacular paintings.
The event was followed by playing Holi with different colors and tasting
traditional Armenian Easter food. After that Indian Embassy presented gifts for
children: books - "Panchatantra stories" translated into Armenian and Easter cakes.
On behalf of
Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO and “Tsil Busats” art studio a small gift was
presented to the Embassy of India: a painting of a child of the art studio to
keep best memories about this very colorful and joyful day.
On
15thDecember 2012, Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO (IAF) organised an
interactive session between the newly appointed Ambassador of India to Armenia
and Georgia Dr. T. Suresh Babu and members of IAF in India’s premier Jawaharlal
Nehru University, New Delhi. Dignitaries
present in the occasion included Ambassador Achal Kumar Malhotra, outgoing
Ambassador of India to Armenia and Georgia, Mrs. Lusik Tovmasyan, Consul of Armenian
Embassy in India, and Prof. Purushottam Agrawal, Member of Union Public Service
Commission (UPSC).
People
who attended the event included Armenian students studying in India, Indian
students who had graduated from YSMU, businessmen and people from different
walks of life interested to know about Indo-Armenian ties. Most of them were members
of Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO.
IAF Co-founder & President Mr. Rananjay Anand
Mr.
Rananjay Anand, Co-Founder and President of Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO
welcomed everyone and thanked them for taking some time out of their busy
schedules to attend the event. At the onset, he underlined the importance of
such initiatives and need of such organizations like IAF to execute them. He updated the audience with IAF's past activities and future plannings!
Ambassador Achal K Malhotra
Ambassador
Achal K Malhotra, who ended his tenure as the Ambassador of India to Armenia
and Georgia in April this year congratulated IAF on organising the interactive
session. He said, “IAF has done a great job so far, and I am sure that it will
continue to do many more activities that will once again revive the old
tradition of Indo-Armenian cultural and friendly interaction”. Ambassador Malhotra also wished his successor,
Dr. T.S. Babu a very fruitful and productive tenure in Yerevan.
Prof. Purushottam Agrawal
Prof.
Purushottam Agrawal, who recently launched his new Book titled “Hindi Sarai: Astrakhan
via Yerevan” spoke about his experiences in Yerevan which was his penultimate
destination before his journey to Astrakhan in Russia. His journey inspired him
to author this book, which he mentions not only as “Travelogue” but a well
researched “Thoughtlogue”. He especially mentioned the great contribution of
Armenian patriotic poet Yeghishe Charents in the cultural historicity of
Armenia. “Armenian people are quite efficient, quite energetic and very helpful”,
said the professor, recalling his days in Armenia. “I was aware of the
importance of Armenia in world history, and also of the long standing cultural
relations between Armenia and India”, continued the author, and went ahead to
speak about the immense contribution the Armenians had on Indian culture and
society.
Ambassador Designate of India to Armenia & Georgia Dr. T. Suresh Babu
Ambassador
Designate Dr. T. Suresh Babu works in the Eurasian division of Ministry of
External Affairs, Government of India and is in charge of CIS countries, among which
Armenia is one as well. While speaking of his next assignment as Ambassador of
Armenia & Georgia, he recalled how he got to know about Armenia for the
first time when his father took him to Armenian Bazar in Chennai. He underlined
the great mutual goodwill existing between both countries and was happy to
state that there is already a great existing foundation to take his work
further very easily. He thanked IAF for organizing the event, which is his
first official interaction with relevant group of people after being appointed
as the Ambassador of India to Armenia & Georgia. “I will try my best to
carry ahead the good work which Ambassador Malhotra had put up during his
tenure in Armenia”, assured the newly appointed Ambassador, adding, “I will not
let you down Amb Malhotra”, referring to his new responsibility in Armenia.
Consul of Embassy of Armenia to India Ms. Lusik Tovmasyan
Mrs.
Lusik Tovmasyan, Consul of Armenian Embassy in India addressed the audience and
spoke about the centuries old Indo-Armenian ties. She especially underlined the
striking similarities between people of both countries. “As most Armenians in
India will agree, it is very difficult for one to part away from India after
staying in this country for some time”, she said, speaking about the love
Armenians have for India. She also spoke about the long-standing Indo-Armenians
ties, making a special mention about Mariam Zamani Begum, the Christian Armenian
wife of Mughal Emperor Akbar. The Armenian Consul further wished the new
Ambassador to Armenia immense success in his new task in Yerevan.
Warli Folk Art Painter Ms. Babita Biswas
Renowned
Warli Folk artist Mrs. Babita Biswas who was also present at the event was
sharing her own memories about Armenia which she experienced during her visit
to this beautiful country for her Painting Exhibition jointly organized by the
Ministry of Culture of Armenia and ICCR.
Audience
were invited to ask questions regarding Indo-Armenian relationship or any
relevant topics. Questions were asked to both the Ambassadors, which they were
more than happy to answer, making it a completely interactive event.
Mane Mkrtchyan, who is studying Hindi in India had some questions for the speakers
The
session ended with High Tea, where the event participants got a chance to meet
each other and make new friends, further tightening the Indo-Armenian
Connection.
Indo-Armenian
Friendship NGO wished Dr. T.Suresh Babu immense success during his tenure as
Ambassador of India in Armenia.
