The Director General National Archives of India V. Srinivas met the Director General State Archives of Turkey Dr. Ugur Unal in Istanbul on January 2, 2014 and the Chairman of the National Records and Archives Authority of Oman Dr. Hamad Mohd Al Dhawiani in Muscat on December 31, 2013. The protocol for collaboration in Archives was signed between India and Turkey during the visit of the President of India to Ankara on October 7, 2013.
The Ambassador of India to Turkey Smt. Susmita Gongulee Thomas and the First Deputy Minister of Archives of Turkey Mr. M. Abdullah Canbek were present on the occasion in the State Archives of Turkey at Ankara when the Hindi and the Turkish Texts of the Protocol were signed and exchanged.
The protocol allows National Archives of India to access ancient Ottoman Archives records amounting to 12 million documents with considerable historical importance in the year 2014.
In the bilateral meeting both sides recognized the benefits from the collaboration in the field of archives and agreed on the need for deeper collaboration in the coming years to develop strong institutions and improved record management practices. India and Turkey agreed on the following road-map for future collaboration:
(a) Identifying Archival Material of Mutual Interest: The National Archives of India agreed to host a delegation of Archivists from the State Archives of Turkey at the National Archives of India for a period of 5 days to identify documents which are of interest to the State Archives of Turkey. The State Archives of Turkey agreed to provide a catalogue of reference material available with the State Archives of Turkey for National Archives of India to identify areas of mutual interest;
(b) Exhibition of Ottoman Archival Records in National Archives of India: The National Archives of India agreed to host a one week exhibition from the State Archives of Turkey in New Delhi at a time of mutual convenience in 2014. It was also agreed that an advance team from State Archives of Turkey could be deputed to National Archives of India to work out the logistical arrangements.
(c) Collaboration in Training Programs: The National Archives of India agreed to build collaboration with the State Archives of Turkey in development of training programs through a Technical Assistance Program.
(d) Collaboration in Digitization of Records: the National Archives of India agreed to explore possible areas of collaboration with the State Archives of Turkey in the exchange of digital copies and share experiences in this regard.
In the bilateral meeting between Dr. Hamad Mohd. Al Dhawiani Chairman National Records and Archives Authority, Sultanate of Oman and V. Srinivas, Director General National Archives of India which was attended by the Ambassador of India to Oman Shri J.S. Mukul, the following areas of collaboration were identified
(a) The National Archives of India will host an Omani delegation of Archivists at New Delhi to prepare proper reference media for the archival documents collected from Indian side;
b) The National Records and Archives Authority will hold an exhibition at New Delhi on Omani and Ottoman Archival records along with a seminar of Arabic Scholars from both sides participating in the deliberations.
(c) A technical assistance program for development of training programs would be developed between the 2 institutions;
(d) Both sides would seek to explore collaboration in digitization of archival records;
(e) Both sides agreed to work on exchange of archivists to develop archival records in both countries; and
(f) The National Archives of India would facilitate interaction with State Archives and Grant in Aid institutions associated with Portuguese history in India.
Oman has hitherto accessed 73000 documents of historical importance from National Archives of India for building an international records section in the National Records and Archives Authority.
