Radha Mohan Singh, Union Agriculture Minister met his Turkish counterpart Mehmet Mehdi Eker for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 Agriculture Ministers' meeting at Istanbul yesterday. Both of them discussed issues of mutual interest and agreed to expedite holding of the 2nd Steering Committee meeting with a view to take forward the cooperation in Agriculture sector between the two countries. Union Agriculture Minister reiterated the desire of Indian Government to participate in the International Horticulture Expo being organised at Antalya, Turkey from 23rd April 2016.
Shri Singh also met his US counterpart Mr Tom Vilsack yesterday and both of them discussed issues of mutual interest. Both the ministers reiterated the need for building upon the strong foundation in bilateral relations laid by recent visits of Prime Minister to US and the visit of US President to India. During the meeting it was agreed to expedite the renewal of MOU between the two countries to take the cooperation forward. USDA Secretary invited India to join the "Global Research Alliance "on Crop and Animal production as well as the "Climate Smart Alliance " and offered to write to Union Agriculture Minister outlining the action taken on both the initiatives .