Double taxation avoidance applies to persons resident in one or both Contracting States under the India-Czechoslovak tax agreement. The Central Government directs that all provisions of the agreement between India and the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic for the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion shall be given effect to in India. Article 1 establishes the personal scope: the agreement applies to persons who are residents of one or both Contracting States. A later notification preserves the 1986 agreement's applicability to residents of the Slovak Republic, ensuring treaty continuity after state succession.