Armenian govt accords highest importance to bilateral relations between India-Armenia, says Narek Mkrtchyan

First Post
India – April 29 2022

Narek Mkrtchyan said the centre of India-Armenia dialogue has been labour migration mobility and skilling of labour

Siddhartha Rai

New Delhi: The Armenian government accords the highest importance to the bilateral relations between India and Armenia, said Armenian minister for labour and social affairs Narek Mkrtchyan told Firstpost.

Mkrtchyan is part of the biggest-ever delegation of the Armenian government that has so far visited India.

"The government of Armenia accords the highest importance the bilateral relations between India and Armenia. Armenian communities have historical roots in India. We settled in major Indian cities such as Agra, Chennai, Lucknow, Surat, Mumbai etc,” the minister said laying down the context for India-Armenia relations.

The delegation, after the conclusion of Raisina Dialogues in New Delhi would be moving to Mumbai as several corporations and companies are part of the Armenian group.

The centre of India-Armenia dialogue has been, Mkrtchyan said, labour migration mobility and skilling of labour. “We have signed an MoU with the Skill Ministry of India for upskilling of labour. Also, we intend to institute a similar ministry in our own country with India’s help.” The Armenian minister met his Indian counterpart Bhupender Yadav.

The Armenian and Indian labour ministries have also decided to institute a working group to work out the modalities of cooperation between the two countries in this field.

“With the Indian help, we plan to institute India-like labour tribunal in Armenia,” Mkrtchyan added.

NSDC has signed an MoU with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia to exchange labour market analysis and facilitate knowledge sharing around policies and mechanisms to enhance workforce competitiveness. Through country-specific examples of skills demand forecast, exploring design techniques to reduce job-to-job transitions, discussing active labour market programs, and engaging the private sector in workforce upskilling, the collaboration seeks to scale up human capital development in India and Armenia.

"To set up a cooperative framework between the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of Armenia and Observer Research Foundation – organizer of prominent 'Raisina Dialogue' – I have signed an MoU with the ORF's President Samir Saran," Mkrtchyan said.