New Delhi: Turkey and India have on Wednesday pledged to deepen and bolster economic ties with an aim at reaching USD 10 billion in bilateral trade by 2020.
According to ANI News reports, Turkish foreign minister Sedat Onal who embarked on an official three-day visit to India from May 7, has held meetings with Indian secretary (West) under the institutional mechanism of foreign office consultations, Gitesh A Sarma.
In an official statement, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said, “Deputy foreign minister Sedat Onal and secretary (west) held cordial discussions on various aspects of bilateral ties including examining opportunities for enhancing trade and investment relations. Currently, the bilateral trade stands at around USD 8.6 billion with a target to reach USD 10 billion by 2020.”
Several other aspects of bilateral relations such as enhanced tourism, people-to-people contacts, cultural interaction were also discussed during the meeting, the MEA statement added.
Turkey and India also reviewed their respective region’s current situation and further exchanged their views over several multilateral issues.
The visit of deputy foreign minister Onal is part of the regular exchange between the two nations, the statement said.
It said, “India and Turkey enjoy close, friendly and deep-rooted ties dating back to several centuries and share civilization links. The recent political exchanges have imparted fresh momentum to our bilateral ties and opened several new avenues for cooperation.”