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-Dragovest Goranov -
Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Bulgaria
| Dear
friends, Welcome
to the website of the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in India. We hope that
this website will present you with detailed, topical and useful information about
Bulgaria and the Indo-Bulgarian relations. We believe that it will reveal to you
the wonders and challenges of the Bulgarian history, culture and education, traditions
and social life, foreign policy, economy and business opportunities, the modern
achievements of our ancient and hospitable people, as well as the bright prospects
in the bilateral Indo-Bulgarian relations.
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Despite the geographical distance, our countries are spiritually close in their
long cherished devotion to freedom and democracy. India and Bulgaria have ancient
civilizations and their histories have involved contacts with numerous other societies,
resulting in the development by both countries of rich multi-culturalism, drawn
from the assimilation of different civilizations, cultures, regions, ethnic and
linguistic groups. Today our countries share the same democratic values.
India and Bulgaria have a long-standing friendship. Bulgaria was among the first
countries which have welcomed and recognized the independence of India. In 2004
we shall mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
Our countries have always had wide-ranging contacts between their people and Governments.
The Indo-Bulgarian relationship is traditionally characterized by an atmosphere
of close friendship and mutual understanding. Our relations are stable and active.
They could not be affected by any transitory moments. The development of friendly
and productive relations between our two countries is among the main priorities
of Bulgarian foreign policy.
Today we can express our satisfaction at
the growth of the Indo-Bulgarian relationship in a number of areas. A number of
high-level bilateral visits are undertaken in recent times. We are exploring new
ways of enhancing our partnership in the 21st century, taking into account the
untapped potential for bilateral cooperation and considering all existing ways
for deepening mutually beneficial cooperation in areas of common interest. We
believe that the future of the Indo-Bulgarian relations is a future of uninterrupted
expansion of bilateral trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation.
And as the President
of the Republic of India A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has underlined in his speech on October
23 2003 during his state visit to Bulgaria, “Time has come both Bulgaria
and India should identify the core competence in specific areas and select projects
of importance for joint design, development, production and marketing in a time-bound
manner.”
Dear
friends,
The people of Bulgaria have always had sincere interest in the
Indian culture, history and traditions, classical music, yoga and ancient Indian
scriptures, and all other aspects of the rich Indian society and spirituality.
In the middle of the 19th century the great Bulgarian enlightener and
freedom fighter Georgi Stoykov Rakovski had expressed in public common will for
free life of the two people saying " India for the Indians". Georgi
Rakovski has written that "The oldest civilization in the world was that
of India and different beliefs and customs originated from it". The great
Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore has visited Bulgaria in 1926 and was welcomed
like no other foreigner. We feel also proud that Bulgarian poets Hristo Botev
and Hristo Smirnenski have exercised influence on Indian writers. It is remarkable,
that during the 19th century, Bulgarian literature reflected the national consciousness
and patriotic sentiments and so did the writings in India during the freedom struggle.
Several of the works of Gandhi, Tagore and Nehru, as well as the Indian
epics - the "Ramayana" and the "Mahabharata", have been translated
into Bulgarian and are popular in my country. The Sofia University has a separate
Department of Indology set up in 1983, which offers courses in the languages,
history and philosophy of India. Eminent works have been brought out by Indologists
of Bulgaria. Today many Bulgarians travel to India to study literature, dance,
music and philosophy.
We are proud that the friendship between Bulgaria
and India has stood the test of time. In this relation, it is a pleasure to cite
the words of the Indian Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, that … "when we
are talking about Bulgaria there is only one party in India - the party of the
Bulgaria's friends". In this sense, in Bulgaria there is also only one party
of the friends of India.
Dragovest
Goranov
Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | | Designed
and Development Partner- Icreon |
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