ASTANA – Kazakhstan and India agreed to diversify bilateral cooperation in medicine, pharmacology, agriculture, information technology, space, and energy. This was announced during the meeting between Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kanat Tumysh and Secretary (West) of the Ministry of External Affairs Sanjay Verma during the eighth round of political consultations in New Delhi on Feb. 13-14.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kanat Tumysh (L) and Secretary (West) of the Ministry of External Affairs Sanjay Verma. Photo credit: Gov.kz
According to Tumysh, New Delhi is one of Astana’s key strategic partners in Asia.
“Peoples of the two countries have a long history of relations, and the installation of busts of Kazakh poet and thinker Abai Kunanbayev in New Delhi in June 2022 and Indian public and political figure Mahatma Gandhi in Astana in October 2022 serves as an example of mutual respect and trust between countries and their peoples,” reads the release from the Kazakh MFA.
It is reported that bilateral trade turnover between countries reached $2.5 billion by the end of 2022. The countries also signed agreements at the first Central Asia-India Summit held online on Jan. 27.
The Kazakh diplomat congratulated the Indian officials on the country’s successful chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and The Group of Twenty (G20).
The fourth meeting of foreign ministers of the Central Asia-India Dialogue is expected to be held in New Delhi on March 5-6. The SCO Summit will be organized at the end of June.
The officials discussed prospects for cooperation in cybersecurity, military and military-technical cooperation, and the fight against terrorism.
Tumysh also met with Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture Meenakshi Lekhi, Secretary for Petroleum and Natural Gas Pankaj Jain, Secretary (Economic Relations) of the Ministry of External Affairs Dammu Ravi and Joint Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs for Disarmament, International, and Cybersecurity Muanpui Sayavi as part of his visit to India.
