Armenia and Botswana sign joint agreement on establishing diplomatic relations

YEREVAN, December 15. /ARKA/. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Botswana's Foreign Minister Lemogang Kwape signed Thursday a joint statement on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Botswana's Foreign Minister was in Yerevan to participate in a ministerial meeting of landlocked developing countries, the press service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry reported.

"We are opening a new chapter in our relations, if we approach the issue very formally, we are establishing these relations, at least the diplomatic part. And we hope that in the future, through our work and based on the values we share, we will develop our cooperation in various fields, from agriculture to science, education and, of course, cooperation on international platforms," Mirzoyan said.

"I share the same hope. In addition to hope, I appreciate the common past. But most importantly, we share the values of our democracy as well as the values of development. Our meeting today is proof of that. As we have signed an agreement to establish diplomatic relations between our two countries, I expect that we, as brothers and sisters, will support each other in the mutual development of our countries. Both of our countries are landlocked and both are small states in terms of economic and other criteria. We have almost the same population, so I think this gives us an opportunity to become true partners," Kwape said.

The foreign ministers of the two countries discussed, in particular, the possibilities of strengthening ties in the economic, high-tech, agricultural, educational and cultural spheres, emphasizing in this context the formation of a legal framework.

The agenda of the meeting included issues related to cooperation in international structures. Regional issues were also in the center of attention of the ministers.. -0-