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The Chair of the NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Sargis Khandanyan spoke about parliamentary diplomacy and foreign policy with the participants of the Parliamentary Program for Young Professionals implemented by the National Democracy Institute (NDI) during the meeting held on November 11.

The Committee Chair welcomed the young professionals who have been doing an internship in the National Assembly for about a year. He highlighted the experience that young people gain in the Parliament by working in the deputies' offices, standing committees and staff units.

Sargis Khandanyan presented in detail the functions of the Standing Committee he leads, noting that the peculiarity of the Committee's activity is the coordination of parliamentary diplomacy and inter-parliamentary relations. As an important part of the Committee's activity, Sargis Khandanyan emphasized the work of the delegations of the National Assembly of Armenia in international parliamentary structures.

The MP answered the questions of the participants of the meeting, which, in particular, related to the achievements of the RA foreign policy in recent years, Armenian-Turkish, Armenian-Georgian relations, visa liberalization process. The young specialists were also interested in issues related to the development of Armenian-American relations after the election of Donald Trump as the US President. Sargis Khandanyan also spoke about the development of inter-parliamentary relations with India.

During the meeting, Armenian-Azerbaijani relations and the peace treaty were discussed, as well as the issue of Armenia not participating in COP29.

The Parliamentary Program for Young Professionals is financed by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and is implemented as a result of the cooperation of the National Democracy Institute (NDI) and the National Assembly.