India, Bulgaria call for more Parliamentary exchanges

New Delhi, Sep 12 (UNI) India today sought Bulgaria's cooperation in the fight against global terrorism and said Parliamentary exchanges between the two countries would go a long way in strengthening bilateral relations.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who called on visiting Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev here today, expressed confidence that both countries would enhance cooperation in political and other spheres for mutual benefit.

He also thanked the visiting Premier for Bulgaria's support to India's candidature for permanent membership of the U N Security Council.

''New vistas of economic cooperation are opening up. Youth in our country consists of more than 50 per cent of our population. India with huge potential can contribute immensely to the knowledge based economies across the world,'' Mr Chatterjee said.

The Lok Sabha Speaker also called for cooperation in the global fight against terrorism.

Referring to women's participation in the process of development in India, Mr Chatterjee said women in were coming forward.

''We are proud of the fact that we have a woman as our President,'' he said while describing Indian Parliamentary Democracy as ''very young and unique.'' ''The fact that 650 million voters have exercised franchise in the last general elections is an indication of how strong the largest working democracy is,'' he added.

The Bulgarian Prime Minister said his country had ''very deeply rooted'' feelings of friendship for India.

Recalling that the first agreement between India and Bulgaria was in the field of cultural cooperation, Mr Stanishev hoped that both nations would work together in every sphere, particularly when the European Union (EU) was looking at India as a strategic partner.

Calling for making economic contacts ''as easy as possible,'' the Bulgarian Prime Minister said his country's Parliament's attitude towards India was positive.

He called for increasing interactions between the parliamentarians of the two countries.

UNI