 Good afternoon. Your Excellency, Mr. Edgar Chagwa-Middleman, President of the Republic of Zambia, Prime Minister Shreed Narendra Modiji, distinguished guests, members of the media, ladies and gentlemen. I welcome you to today's seminar, where six documents will be exchanged. We have the familiar cooperation in the field of geology and mineral resources. This will be exchanged on the Zambian side by Mr. Edgar Chagwa-Middleman, Minister of Islands and Rural Resources, and on the Indian side by Shreed Narendra Joshi, Minister of Environmental Affairs, Co-Oz and Rains. In addition to cooperation in the field of defense, this will be exchanged on the Zambian side by Mr. Joseph Melange, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and on the Indian side by Shreed Narendra Joshi, Minister of State and the Ministry of External Affairs. In addition to cooperation in the field of arts and culture, this will be exchanged on the Zambian side by Mr. Joseph Melange, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and on the Indian side by Shreed V. Murli Dharan, Minister of State and the Ministry of External Affairs. In the fall is an emerging between the Foreign Service Institute of India and the Zambian Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies. This will again be exchanged on the Zambian side by Mr. Joseph Melange, and on the Indian side by Shreed V. Murli Dharan, Minister of State and the Ministry of External Affairs. This will be exchanged once again on the Zambian side by Mr. Joseph Melange, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and on the Indian side by Shreed V. Murli Dharan, Minister of State and the Ministry of External Affairs. In the fall is an emerging between the Action Commission of India, this will be exchanged on the Zambian side by Honourable Justice S. A. Cholum, Chairperson, Electoral Commission of Zambia, and on the Indian side by Shreed V. Murli Dharan, Minister of State and the Ministry of External Affairs. And the Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modiji, to deliver his statement to the media. Your Excellency, President Edgar Lungu, has just arrived from Zambia. All of us here were honored. Friends, Namaskar. I am very happy to welcome President Lungu and his delegation to India. He is the first President of Africa. After becoming the new government, he is travelling to India. This is the first trip to India of President Lungu. And we have got the opportunity to welcome him. The relationship between India and Zambia is older than the freedom of Zambia. Zambia is a very important friend and a trusted partner of India. We have faith in the common people. And we connect both the developing countries to each other. Our business community, trade and commerce, investment and infrastructure, development, cooperation, capacity building, and the strong relations between the culture and the people. Friends, today President Lungu and I have discussed the issues of our relations. We agree that trade and commerce will benefit both the countries and the international relations. In the form of another trusted partner, India has been sharing its experience of development in an easy way. We are happy that it has helped us in the development of Zambia. We are happy that the development of India has been easy. We are happy that India will establish an inclusive centre in Zambia. In order to increase India's economy, India will establish 100 solar irrigation pumps. We will send 1,000 tons of rice and 100 tons of milk powder to Zambia. Zambia is a country filled with agriculture. In addition to other crops, Zambia is the largest country in Zambia. MOU will increase our co-operation in the mineral resources. The research and development of the companies will be carried out. Today, an important MOU has been launched on defence cooperation. In the area of protection, the exchanges will be increased and defence cooperation will be strengthened. To increase the resources of the Zambian Armed Forces, the Indian military and Air Force training team will be established in Zambia. Five fire tenders will be established in the Zambia Air Force Base. I am happy that Zambia has joined our tele-education and tele-medicine and has become an important role model for the development of India. The MOU will strengthen the international relations between the two countries. As part of the international relations, we want to ensure that health care, tourism, agriculture, food processing, mining, and energy are provided in both countries to use the available resources. India Jamiya Business Forum will help to increase the engagement in these areas. Welcome to Jamiya International Solar Alliance. Solar energy is very important for the artistic development and development. We can do a lot together in the International Solar Alliance. Friends, there is a strong bond between India and Jamiya. The cultural, economic, and capacity building of these relations is very important. We are happy to be involved in the training of the diplomats of Jamiya. Excellency, I thank you once again for accepting our invitation. Your presence in New Delhi has made us proud. I thank you once again for your delegation. Thank you, sir. It is now my pleasure to invite His Excellency, Mr. Edgar Chagwalungu, President of the Republic of Zambia, to deliver his statement to the media. Your Excellency, Prime Minister Modi, members of the press, ladies and gentlemen, first and foremost, let me profoundly thank the government and people of India for the warm welcome and generous hospitality according to me, my dedication, and the others then to arise since our arrival in this beautiful historical city of New Delhi. I have just had a fruitful discussion with the Honourable Prime Minister Modi this afternoon. Discussions which have enhanced cooperation between the two countries even further. I look forward to the discussions with Honourable President Kovind later today which we will build on our discussions during his last visit to Zambia in April last year. From the outset, I wish to state that Zambia and India share excellent relations with support from India, focusing the areas of energy, health, infrastructure development, education, capacity building, agriculture, trade and investment, just to mention but a few. Projects being undertaken in Zambia today with the support of the Indian government include the Lusaka Traffic Decondition Project, construction of 650 health posts across the country, construction of the Mahatma Gandhi Convention Centre, establishment of the Entrepreneurship Cooperative Development Centre and upgrading of the Mahatma Gandhi Primary School to secondary school level among other projects. The people of Zambia are truly grateful for the generous support received over the years. My visit here has already started bearing fruits in that we have witnessed the signing of some important agreements in the field of defence, to the education, to the medicine, arts and culture, elections, e-training and e-medicine and mines, as well as between our two diplomatic training institutes. The Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, we look forward to the revival of the Zambia India Joint Permanent Commission on Cooperation, which will take stock of the implementation of agreed areas of bilateral cooperation and will further explore new areas of cooperation. Private investment in Zambia by Indian companies currently stands at five billion United States dollars, which has contributed positively to Zambia's development agenda in terms of job creation and economic diversification. I would like to see more Indian companies coming to partner with Zambian companies as a result of this visit. Excellency, I'm happy to announce that apart from the government officials, I have been accompanied on this visit by a business delegation from Zambia who would like to partner with the Indian business community in various areas of interest. I am confident and extremely confident that the Zambia India Business Forum, which is taking place today, will foster trade and investment linkages of mutual benefit to our two friendly countries. Evidently, India is an important and strategic partner in Zambia's quest for enhanced social economic development as articulated in our country's 7th National Development Plan. They said to visit, therefore, we will build on the achievements and enhance cooperation between the two countries, even further. I therefore wish to reaffirm Zambian government's commitment to enhancing the excellent relations and cooperation with India at both bilateral and multilateral levels for the mutual benefit of the people of our two countries. I thank you, Excellency. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you, Excellency. This concludes the presentation. Thank you all for joining me.