India-Kazakhstan ties continue to grow

The ground for strong relations had been laid down during the Soviet period when India enjoyed excellent relations with the USSR. That legacy still continues and is quickly being tapped into.

By Aditi Bhaduri
New Delhi: Kazakhstan’s Defence Minister Lieutenant General Nurlan Yermekbayeva arrived in India today in the city of Jodhpur, testifying to growing India-Kazakh bilateral ties.the visit is on the invitation of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. He will also be traveling to Jaisalmer, New Delhi and Agra  for meetings and visits related to defence sector.General Yermekbayev will be holding a bilateral meeting with Singh in the capital on Friday. The duo had last met in Moscow on September 5, 2020 on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ meeting.This is yet another reflection of India’s outreach to and desire for elevating ties with the Central Asian countries. Last month India had held the second “Dostlyk” military exercises with Uzbekistan in Uttarakhand.Defence ties with Kazakhstan are also robust and both countries held joint military exercises in 2019 and are participating in joint UN peacekeeping.
The ground for strong relations had been laid down during the Soviet period when India enjoyed excellent relations with the USSR. That legacy still continues and is quickly being tapped into.
India was amongst the first countries to recognize the independence of Kazakhstan and diplomatic relations between both countries were established in February 1992.  India was also the first country then President Nursultan Nazarbayev visited in February 1992 as the President of independent Kazakhstan. 
On another visit to India in 2009 by  Nazarbayev visited India ties were elevated to the level of stretegic ties. 
A civil nuclear pact were made with India under which the uranium-rich Central Asian country will supply fuel to atomic plants in India.
Kazakh-Indian cooperation also continues to develop in the field of energy, investment, pharmaceuticals and logistics.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Kazakhstan in July 2015, when he had met with then President Nursultan Nazarbayev where both had discussed strengthening bilateral ties.Over the years، the Central Asian countries have assumed greater significance and salience for India given their enormous natural resources, geo-strategic location, and markets, and also for defence and security.
Modi and Nazarbayev had also agreed to collaborate in the hydrocarbons sector and welcomed the formal commencement of drilling of the first exploratory well in the Satpayev block which coincided with the Indian PM’s visit.With India increasingly determined to diversify it’s energy supplies, Kazakhstan has emerged as an import destination in recent times.
Trade turnover between the two countries reached 1.57 billion USD in January-May 2020, an increase of two times compared to the same period in 2019.”India has a great interest in investing into key industries in Kazakhstan, especially in mineral resources including oil producing blocks. In addition, India is engaged in expanding cooperation in tourism and education,” Indian Ambassador in Kazakhstan, Prabhat Kumar told The Astana Times in an interview recently.
Kazakhstan is India’s largest trade and investment partner in Central Asia, with the balance of trade tilted in favour of Kazakhstan. Given deepening trade ties and that Kazakhstan is a landlocked country the first joint Indo-Kazakh joint working group on connectivity was held.
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With both countries participating in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation multilateral forum, there are regular meetings between both sides.

The Kazakh President Tokayev is slated to visit India sometime this year.

 

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