Stories of India-Armenia friendship

He was India’s ambassador to Armenia and Georgia from 2009-2012.
(From left) Author Achal Malhotra; Armen Martirosyan, Ambassador of The Republic of Armenia in India and Shivkumar Eashwaran, Consul General of The Republic of Armenia   Nakshatra Krishnamoorthy
(From left) Author Achal Malhotra; Armen Martirosyan, Ambassador of The Republic of Armenia in India and Shivkumar Eashwaran, Consul General of The Republic of Armenia  Nakshatra Krishnamoorthy

CHENNAI: On the occasion of the 27th National day celebrations of the Republic of Armenia in Chennai, the Consul General (Hon) of the Republic of Armenia Shivkumar Eashwaran hosted a meet and greet at the iconic Madras Cricket Club on September 21. At the event, a film on Armenia was screened.
The highlight of the event was the release of the book ‘India - Armenia - So Far yet So Close’ authored by His Excellency Achal Malhotra. He was India’s ambassador to Armenia and Georgia from 2009-2012.

“Towards the end of my tenure in 2012, I concluded that despite the excellent state-to-state relations forged during the last 20 years, the awareness amongst Armenians about India and vice versa is extremely limited, and at times even distorted. The book is an attempt to bridge the gap. It is meant to remind some of the glorious moments of the close interaction and peaceful coexistence,” shared Achal Malhotra who authored the book. This is a dedication to the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Armenia.

The book traces the origin of people to people contacts between Armenia and India to at least 2nd Century BC. It focuses on the glorious past of Armenians in India from medieval India up to its independence in 1947. He also highlights the emergence of a new quality cooperation between the Indian and the Armenian people at the end of 20th century. This came as a result of the establishment of official ties between the newly independent Republic of Armenia and India on August 31, 1992.

“The book also has a few photographs clicked by me. I was lucky enough to be given the permission by the embassy to access important facts and existing source materials. The visuals are expected to add more value to the narrative,” said the author.

His Excellency Armen Martirosyan, ambassador of the Republic of Armenia in India presided over the function and released the book. He handed over the first copy to Oleg N Avdeev Consul General of the Russian Federation to South India. Eminent industrialists and members from the Confederation of Indian Industry Southern Region — TT Ashok and Thulasiraj were present at the book launch. The list of prominent members included the diplomatic community from Germany, Russia and Honorary Consuls from El Salvador, Paraguay, Spain, Seychelles amongst several others who attended this event.

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