Kyrgyzstan Seeks India’s Assistance in Defence; Railways; Hydel Power Sectors

NEW DELHI: Landlocked Central Asian country bordering China — Kyrgyzstan — has sought India’s assistance to build railways and hydel projects besides defence sector.

Chingiz Azamatovich Aidarbekov, Foreign Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic, on his first ever official visit to India on 27-31 January, met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Delhi this week. The two Ministers held wide-ranging discussions on bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest.

Noting the close cultural and historical ties between India and Kyrgyzstan and reiterating the importance the two countries attach to their bilateral relationship, the Ministers agreed to expand India-Kyrgyz cooperation in a number of areas, particularly in the field of development partnership.

Aidarbekov briefed Swaraj on Kyrgyzstan’s efforts to liberalize its economy, create business friendly conditions and attract foreign investment including that from Indian companies.

Giving an overview of new infrastructure projects in Kyrgyzstan, including in the fields of railways and hydro-electricity, Foreign Minister Aidarbekov invited India to participate in such projects.

Presence of more than 9000 Indian students in various Kyrgyz educational institutions was noted in the context of the potential to enhance cooperation in the field of education by encouraging collaboration between universities of both countries.

Defence cooperation, capacity building, training, IT and e-governance, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, tourism, movie production and culture were also discussed.

Aidarbekov and External Affairs Minister highly valued the initiative of the India-Central Asia Dialogue at the level of Foreign Ministers with the participation of Afghanistan which was held in Samarkand on 12-13 January as creating a platform for region-wide cooperation which would bring benefits to all the participating countries in terms of enhanced trade and economic cooperation and connectivity.

Aidarbekov said that he looks forward to participating in the next edition of the Dialogue which would be hosted by India in 2020.

Acknowledging the threat posed by terrorism and radicalization to their societies, the two Ministers agreed to work together to fight the scourge of terrorism and cooperate in exchanging experience in the field of deradicalization. Cooperation in the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was reviewed in detail.

External Affairs Minister conveyed her best wishes and support to Kyrgyzstan in its work as the SCO Chair this year and for the success of the SCO Summit which the Kyrgyz Republic will host in coming June.

The Kyrgyz Foreign Minister reiterated the invitation extended to Prime Minister for participation in the SCO Summit and paying a bilateral visit to the Kyrgyz Republic. He also invited External Affairs Minister to visit Kyrgyzstan. Swaraj had visited Kyrgyzstan earlier in August 2018.

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Source:ET

Image Courtesy:MidDay

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