PM Modi Extends Central Asian Outreach, to Hold Bilateral Talks with Kyrgyzstan During SCO Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold bilateral meetings with President of the Kyrgyz Republic Jeenbekov on the sidelines of the SCO summit. India will take this opportunity as an outreach to Central Asian nations by meeting the leaders separately to highlight the importance of the region in India’s strategic calculus.

PM Modi, in a statement before his visit to Bishkek from June 13-14, said, “The Summit is expected to discuss the global security situation, multilateral economic cooperation, people-to-people exchanges and topical issues of international and regional importance. On the sidelines of the summit, I also plan to meet several leaders bilaterally.”

Speaking specifically about the host nation, PM Modi said that he had extended full cooperation to the chairmanship of the Kyrgyz Republic over the past year.

“On the invitation of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, I will also be on an official bilateral visit to the Kyrgyz Republic on June 14, 2019, after the conclusion of the SCO Summit,” PM Modi said.

Speaking exclusively to India Today TV, the Indian envoy to the Kyrgyz Republic, Alok Dimri said that there are a lot of areas that would be covered in talks between the two nations. The two sides would also look at the issue of connectivity after the recent trouble that Indian nationals and students faced with Pakistan shutting down its airspace.

“India-Kyrgyz relations are historical and deep. We are not far from each other. PM Modi had also paid visits to Central Asian republics in 2015. That was a time that he had made a bilateral visit to the Kyrgyz Republic and today after four years he is visiting again just ten days after the Kyrgyz President was in New Delhi for the swearing-in ceremony. There is greater excitement and expectation. Kyrgyz people also see a world leader in Prime Minister Modi”, he said in an interview at his office in the Indian embassy in Bishkek.

The two leaders will also jointly address the first meeting of India-Kyrgyz Business Forum.

Speaking on the expansion of ties, Prime Minister Modi in his statement said, “In recent times, our relations have expanded in several areas of bilateral engagement, including defence, security, trade and investment,”

India Today TV has learnt that a Memorandum of Understanding will be signed in the field of legal metrology (legal requirements for measurements) during the bilateral talk in Bishkek. The Indian cabinet on Wednesday approved the MoU under which the two nations will exchange information and documents relating to legal metrology, develop a training programme for officials and non-officials dealing with the subject, an official statement said.

There is a reflection of multilateral objectives in bilateral engagements and vice versa. PM Modi emphasised that SCO was the right forum to consolidate ties in the region.

“I am confident that my visit to the Kyrgyz Republic will further strengthen and consolidate our cooperation with the SCO member countries and with the Kyrgyz Republic,” he said.

He also said that the global security situation, as well as economic cooperation, will be on the agenda at the SCO.

Ambassador Dimri agreed when he said, “…as you know multilateralism is the flavour of diplomacy and global engagements and SCO is an important platform to do that. It helps us in the bilateral context, multilaterally and in a multilateral context, bilaterally. This is an opportunity that we are in this geography and he is engaging the leadership at the beginning of his second tenure.”

The two sides will also focus on greater people-to-people exchange and cooperation in the field of education. At present, there are about 9,000 Indian students pursuing their medical studies in Kyrgyzstan alone.

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Source: IT

Image Courtesy: Business Standard

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