By Azera Rahman
New Delhi, Dec 4 (IANS) Lithuanian Foreign Minister Vygaudas Usackas, on his first official visit to India, has said that despite being a small and young country, it is the best place for India to do business.

In an effort to thus forge strong ties, the India-Lithuania Chamber of Commerce has been established for the first time.

Barely 20 years after it gained independence, Usackas said Lithuania - one of the three Baltic states along with Latvia and Estonia that was part of the former Soviet Union - has a lot to learn from the biggest democracy, India, and share knowledge on good governance.

“It’s been long overdue that the Lithuanian foreign minister has been on an official visit to India. We are looking at working together to share our knowledge on governance and learning from India’s experiences as the biggest democracy,” Usackas told IANS in an interview.

“In my meeting with the Indian foreign minister S.M. Krishna, I am keen to listen to his assessment on the situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan. Lithuania is an ally of the United States and we have troops in Afghanistan. We want to enable the Afghan people financially so that they have greater control over their land,” he added.

Usackas said that tourism, infrastructure, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and food processing are some of the sectors in which Lithuania is keen on developing joint ventures.

“We may be a small market of 3.5 million people but are the best place to do business. Lithuania is a transport hub between Asia and the European Union with a port that never freezes. A meeting with Indian businessmen here revealed that they are keen to invest in manufacturing units in Lithuania,” he said.

“Our economy harps on diversity - from food processing and biotechnology to IT and fertiliser and plastics. Lithuania is the European capital of culture. That’s why we want more Indians to visit us and vice versa,” Usackas said.

Accompanied by Lithuanian Economy Minister Dainius Kreivys and a 27-member business delegation, Usackas attended a meeting at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Wednesday and will attend another meeting organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at Mumbai Friday.

He also met Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani Thursday.

Rajinder Kumar Chaudhary, honorary consul of India to Lithuania, said: “The foreign minister met Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah because Lithuania is looking at joint collaborations in this field.”

With the opening of the Lithuanian embassy here last year, the visa process for businessmen has become easier, thus boosting trade between the two countries, Usackas said.

“India and Lithuania are very similar, beginning with language - Lithuanian and Sanksrit have a lot in common. Our people are similar and we are rich culturally. Therefore I hope this is just the beginning of many more visits,” he added.

While Usackas will leave India Friday evening, the business delegation will stay on a few more days for meetings.

(Azera Rahman can be contacted at azera.p@ians.in)