Modi Calls for Closer Cooperation with Central Asia on Security

Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Navtej Sarna, on Wednesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to Kazakhstan was a successful one and added that various crucial issues, including defence cooperation and terrorism, were discussed between the two sides.

On his first visit to Central Asian countries, Modi, who flew to Kazakhstan’s capital from Uzbekistan earlier in the day, asserted that both India and Central Asia can not achieve their full potential without each other and nor will the region be more stable without the cooperation between the two.

On cooperation in the hydrocarbons sector, Modi said Nazarbayev “responded positively to my request to consider additional mature blocks for Indian investments”. Poor connectivity was the biggest barrier to deepening of economic engagement between the two countries, and called for enhanced connectivity between India and Kazakhstan. “They have scope for manufacturing sector which is a big requirement for India”, he said.

“We are pleased to have a much larger second contract for purchase of uranium with Kazakhstan and expanding our civil nuclear cooperation”, he said.

We have enormous synergies of markets, resources and skills for a strong bilateral relationship.

A joint statement “Tej kadam” was also released after talks which said the leaders noted the rising challenge posed by terrorism in their immediate region.

He thanked the president for Kazakhstan’s continued support for India’s candidature for a permanent seat in a reformed United Nations Security Council and for a United Nations Comprehensive Convention on worldwide Terrorism.

Both leaders welcomed the establishment of a Joint Study Group between India and the Eurasian Economic Union on the feasibility of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which would boost trade.

Addressing a business roundtable attended by members of the business community from both India and Kazakhstan, the Prime Minister praised the huge strides made by Kazakhstan in economic progress over the last decade. In many ways, President Nazarbayev’s visit in 1992 was seminal for his country, but it caught India at an awkward time when it was still coming to grips with its own payment crisis.