India Presented by Armenians

By Inga Petrosyan

Those who love India, who are interested in its life and culture, have the opportunity to witness a small part of it in Naregatsi Art Institute. However this time Indian culture is not represented by Indians but Armenians.

On January 20th Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO presented a group photo exhibition titled “India through the Armenian lens”.
One of the participants is Feliix Gharibyan from Iran who used to study in India for 6 years and came to Armenia 1 year ago. He says. “Those who were able to live in India can live anywhere in the world as India is a quite tough but exciting country at the same time”. Felix has decided to stay and work in Armenia.

Another participant, Paruyr Abrahamyan, says that he will surely visit India again. He was there only for 20 days though even Indians say that a whole life is not enough to travel all over India.

The exhibition presents 51 photos of 11 participants who have been to India and through their photos show the joyful and colorful sides of Indian reality. Although the participants are armatures but according to many attendants the photos seem to be shot by professionals.

The opening ceremony was graced by the ambassador of India to Armenian H.E.  Mr Achal Kumar Malhotra. Mr Ambassador said that we should see not only the outer part of the photos but the inner, spiritual side of them too.  The president of Naregatsi Art Institute stressed. “Both Armenians and Indians are old nations and we need to present Indian culture in Armenia and Armenian culture in India”. Naregatsi Art Institute meets these needs for what it was established, to serve the culture, said Mr Nareg Harutyunyan. 

At the opening ceremony Indian students performed an Indian dance. 19 year old Srinivasan, one of the dancers, who studies at Yerevan State Medical University, has decided to become a neurologist. He says when he goes back to India he’ll take Armenian paintings with him, and being more frankly he would love to take an Armenian girl to India. My interlocutor says that he doesn’t know much about Armenian culture but he managed to visit main cultural destinations in Yerevan and notes that his favorite place is Vernisaj.  In general what he likes most in Armenia is gender equality.

The group photo exhibition “India through the Armenian lens” is organized by Indo-Armenian Frindship NGO in collaboration with the Embassy of India in Armenia. The exhibition is dedicated to the 63rd anniversary of the Republic Day in India. 
 

About the author: Inga Petrosyan is one of the participants of the exhibition. She works at one of  the daily newspapers in Yerevan as a journalist. 

Inga taking an interview from Felix - one of
the participants of the exhibition

The original article in AZG daily

Stretch your feet according to your blanket

The interview below was made by online magazine tert.hraparak.am in Armenian. At the request of our group members we are posting here the English version of the interview.

Indian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia Mr. Achal Kumar Malhotra visited «Galiq» college in Ijevan. This is his second visit to this college.

The director of «Galiq» college Arsen Bayramyan said that this visit is also symbolic, because exactly seven years ago on February 15, 2003 the cooperation between the college and Indian Embassy in Armenia had been established. Mr. Malhotra is the third Indian Ambassador who keeps friendly contact with the college where foreign languages, including English, French, Italian, Spanish, Persian, Ukrainian, Portuguese, etc., are taught along with the number of professional subjects. The Ambassador attended an Indian language open class, where the students showed an Indian dance and a theatre performance in Hindi. Achal Kumar Malhotra mentioned that the Armenian youth can speak Indian quite good. "I am very glad to see that Indian language is taught in Ijevan," said Indian Ambassador to RA. "Every country’s language learning helps people to make good contacts, and I am sure that these people will help Armenian-Indian relations become more closer", said Mr. Malhotra. For those who want to study thoroughly Hindi language will be able to study in India in the frame of educational program.

We had a talk with the Ambassador:

Mr. Ambassador, does the Indian youth show interest towards Armenia?
At this moment there aren’t many opportunities in India to teach Armenian, but there are children from Armenia and other countries who study Armenian language and history in Calcutta.


Financial Analysts point out that not in distant future India will fortify its positions so that together with China's it will turn the geopolitical pole to Asia. What would you say regarding this as the representative of India in our country?
Not only India and China, but Brazil is also taking steps, and yes, it can be said that a few years later Asia due to its economic outgrowth will fix the leading position. I should mention that while the whole world suffered from the economic crisis, India and China managed to maintain their position. In our country the economic growth of 6.5 had been recorded, whereas in other countries financial decrease was registered. Yes, India and China will say their word in the world economy.


Due to what the Indians did manage to sustain economic growth?
Several reasons: The first condition is a very well developed banking system, besides, we have a very large internal market, and one of the reasons to confront the crisis was very well-organized financial policy and management.


Do you want to say that India has stronger banking system than financial system of the United States?
The crisis began in America and spread to other countries while India resisted it because we spend according to our funds, we do not live in the same way as people in America do by taking loans. If we have a hundred dollar income, then we just spend that much and not by taking a thousand dollar loan "Stretch your feet according to your blanket".

Source: tert.hraparak.am

Translated by Nelly Manucharyan

India marks Republic Day

Interview given by the Ambassador of India to Armenia  H.E. Achal Kumar Malhotra to A1+

On January 26, 1950, the Indian constitution was put into force proclaiming India as a republic country.

Every year, on January 26, Indians in Armenia mark the Republic Day of India. Today they gathered outside the residence of Indian Ambassador to Armenia Achal Kumar Malhotra. Ambassador Malhotra read out the message of the Indian President.

Festive events will continue throughout the day.

Talking to A1+, Ambassador Malhotra said that democracy has overcome all challenges and hardships in India.

Mr. Ambassador, how will you assess Armenian-Indian relations?

I would say they are perfect. Armenia and India hold unanimous opinion on issues of bilateral interest. We uphold the tradition of reciprocal visits. Armenian Foreign Minister visited India in November 2010 and discussed a wide range of issues with his Indian counterpart, starting form regional to international issues.

In 2010, we commenced Yerevan-Delhi flights, which further contributed to tourism. With the Armenian Ministry of Economy, we organized a seminar on tourism that enabled tour operators of the two countries to reach agreement on numerous issues. As result, the number of Armenian tourists has increased in India over the last two months. The countries also continue implementing educational programs. In 2010, 35 Armenians studied in India in the framework of Technical and Economic Cooperation program.

Which are the priorities of the two countries in the spheres of economy and culture?

 India has always expressed readiness to support Armenia in its endeavours. India is a reliable partner. India supports developing countries without preconditions. Priorities are determined by the receiving party. Armenia and India implemented two programs in 2010. We aim to implement another two programs in 2011. India will technically assist Armenia in the preparation for the 2011 census. To this effect, a group of specialists of Armenian National Statistical Service will leave for India in February. Restrictions on entry visa are likely to be lifted in the nearest future. The issue is under consideration. I hope that it will soon find a positive solution and contribute to the flow of Indian tourists to Armenia.

 The countries have established a good tradition of organizing exhibition-sale of Indian goods in Armenia. However, for some unknown reasons, the exhibition set for autumn, 2010, was canceled.  Does it mean that the countries encounter problems in economic cooperation?

 Besides intergovernmental cooperation, the countries also cooperate with the private sector. The exhibition-sale is initiated by private entrepreneurs. Last time the exhibition was held in May 2010.  It is not easy to organize a similar exhibition every six months. I think that another exhibition will be organized in Armenia this year. I am also hopeful that Armenian-Indian collaboration will continue intensively in different spheres.

Achal Kumar Malhotra wished the Armenian people peace, prosperity and happiness in the new decade.

Source: A1plus.am