By Rahmatullah / New Delhi
The Embassy of Azerbaijan to India, here, today marked the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan (DRA).
Mr. Jeyhun Aliyev, Charge d’ Affaires of the Embassy opened the ceremony and briefed the audience about the history, legislative activities, territory and diplomatic relations of DRA.
The Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan was occupied by the Red Army of the Soviet Union for almost 23 months, between May 28, 1918 and 27 April 1920 and remained as one of the states of the Soviet Union for 71 years, before attaining its independence in October 1991.
The Charge d’Affairs recalled the 71-year struggle of Azerbaijani people under the leadership of National Leader Heydar Aliyev. The independence was restored on October 18, 1991. Azerbaijan has been growing now under the leadership its President Mr. Ilham Aliyev, and making big strides in all fields. It continues to be an active member of international community as a sovereign state.
Former Union Minister Arif Mohammad Khan, Former Governor Virendra Kataria, Turkey Ambassador Sakir Ozkan Torunlar and Kazakhstan Ambassador Bulat Sarsenbayev, Eminent educationist Professor J.S. Rajput, former Indian ambassador K.V. Rajan, and Dr Muzaffar Ahmad were among the speakers. They stressed the need for deeper ties between Azerbaijan and India in economic, social and other field and and also called for better cooperation between the two countries in the region and international forums. Prof NK Jain, SC Khanna, BL Changia, Pradeep Kashyap, Dr M Rahmatullah, Dr Ashok Chaudhary, Dinesh Agrawal, Shekhar Singh, Neelofer Shama, Dr Sheikh Aquil Ahmad, Asha Mohini, Janendra Singh, Anita Chaudhary, Sarfaraz Saifi, and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
