ASTANA (TCA) — Kazakhstan and India are set to increase bilateral trade from the level of $1 billion reached in 2017, as well as expand cooperation in the transport and logistics sector, expanding the potential of the Kazakhstan – Turkmenistan – Iran railway with access to the Indian Ocean. That was said at the meeting of Kazakhstan Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov and Foreign Minister of India Sushma Swaraj on August 3 in Astana, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry reported.
The sides discussed international and regional agenda and further cooperation between the two foreign offices. Abdrakhmanov and Swaraj stressed positive dynamics of bilateral political contacts at the highest level. Particularly, they revised implementation of agreements reached following the last year visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Astana, as well as his meeting with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in June on the SCO Summit sidelines in Qingdao.
“Following the recent meeting of our presidents in Qingdao, Nazarbayev gave a number of specific instructions to the Kazakh government on forcing bilateral cooperation in the fields of investment, energy, logistics, information technology, space, pharmaceuticals, tourism and film production. These are the key areas we will focus while preparing official high-level events in 2019,” Abdrakhmanov said.
The parties expressed satisfaction with the fruitful work of the Kazakh-Indian Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economy, Science and Technology, Industrial and Cultural Cooperation, as well as the Business Council between the Foreign Trade Chamber of Kazakhstan and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India. Indian business circles showed interest in managing large Kazakh airports, as well as in cooperation within AIFC, International Center for Green Technologies and Investment Projects, the Astana Hub International Technopark of IT-startups.
One of the important projects of multilateral cooperation is the commencement of negotiations on concluding a Free-trade agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and India.
The focus of the ministers was also on cultural and humanitarian ties. Kazakhstan thanked India for support in the restoration of the grave of the famous historian, statesman Muhammed Khaydar Dulati in January of this year in the city of Srinagar. In addition, the first steps have been taken to create joint films with Bollywood studios.
