BISHKEK (TCA) — Kyrgyzstan President Almazbek Atambayev held talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on December 20 during his state visit to India.
Atambayev’s press service quoted the Kyrgyz President as saying that the two countries are seeking to boost their economic cooperation. There is an agreement to set up a Kyrgyz-Indian fund for the support of entrepreneurs, Atambayev said.
“We need to drastically increase our trade turnover. The existing [trade] figures can not satisfy us. We have also discussed logistics issues,” the Kyrgyz leader said.
It was announced that India agreed to provide Kyrgyzstan with up to $2 million worth of medical equipment to treat oncological diseases.
Speaking after the talks with Atambayev, the Indian Prime Minister said that they had reviewed bilateral cooperative engagement in the defense field. “The Kyrgyz-India Mountain Bio-Medical Research Center is an excellent example of successful collaboration. It has proved to be a rewarding research initiative, which we need to build on,” the Indian Prime Minister’s press service quoted Modi as saying. “We have commenced work on a Kyrgyz-India Joint Military Training Center in the Kyrgyz Republic. Our joint military exercises on counter-terrorism are now an annual feature. The next edition has been planned for the first quarter of next year in the Kyrgyz Republic.”
Modi also spoke on the need to increase economic cooperation. “To this end, we will work to strengthen bilateral trade and economic linkages, and facilitate greater people-to-people exchanges. We will encourage industry and business on both sides to play a leading role in exploiting opportunities in healthcare, tourism, information technology, agriculture, mining and energy,” he said.
