25 de agosto de 2013, 10:01New Delhi, Aug 25 (Prensa Latina) India and Iraq signed an energy cooperation agreement that establishes the creation of joint ventures for oil exploration, petrochemical complexes and fertilizer plants.

A statement at the end of negotiations between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Iraqi counterpart, Nuri al-Maliki, who paid an official visit to India, says that the accord will boost economic, commercial and cooperation relations between the two countries.

The two parties agreed to make better use of areas of common interest such as agriculture and food security, water management, education, development of infrastructure, pharmaceutical products, information technology and low-cost housing.

In the first visit by a head of government from one country to the other in nearly 40 years (the last visit was paid by Indira Ghandi to Iraq n 1975), Al-Maliki’s main objectives were to strengthen bilateral ties, damaged by the second Gulf war, and reaffirm his country’s position as a major oil supplier to India.

Iraq holds the world’s fifth largest oil reserve, but its infrastructure problems due to several years of sanctions and civil war have prevented the country from developing its fields, for which it will need about 30 billion dollars immediately.

For its part, India provided technical assistance and labor force to Iraq’s oil sector in the 1970s and 1980s.

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Modificado el ( domingo, 25 de agosto de 2013 )