Chandigarh, Nov 7 (PTI) Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given independent rights to states to promote trade, commerce, education, tourism, art and culture with foreign nations.

This has opened new avenues of progress for the states in various fields, he said while interacting with the ambassadors, high commissioners and representatives of seven countries who came to meet him at the Haryana Raj Bhawan here, an official release said.

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High Commissioner of Fiji Kamlesh Shashi Prakash, High Commissioner of Papua New Guinea Paulias Carni Obe, General Councilor of the Union of Kormos K L Ganjoo, and Burkina Faso's Head of Consular Affairs Collibelli D. Herbe were among those present, it said.

The Haryana Governor welcomed all the delegates and said that with visits and meetings on such a large scale, the relation between our country and states with foreign countries will be further enhanced.

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“This will also lead to progress in trade, agriculture, art and culture, education, environment and other areas between other states and countries,” the release quoted him as saying.

He said with the independence given to Indian states in foreign affairs by the central government, they can directly enter into MoUs with foreign countries.

Dattatreya said that there is immense potential for cooperation between the pacific countries and Haryana.

From higher education to skill development, IT-enabled services to foodgrain development, Haryana is ready to work in every field and to partner with all countries, he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)