Muraleedharan visits Kazakhstan, holds bilateral talks to strengthen cooperation

Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan was on a two-day visit to Kazakhstan from November 11 during which he held discussions to strengthen bilateral cooperation in various areas, including in the fields of energy, trade and investment, civil aviation and in the multilateral fora like the UN. Muraleedharan called on Nurlan Nigamatulin, chairman of the Majilis, the Lower House of the Kazakh Parliament, the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

During the meeting, both sides agreed on the need for strengthening inter-parliamentary cooperation between the two countries. Muraleedharan also participated in the fifth Astana Club Meeting, a regional discussion forum held under the patronage of the first president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Speaking on the theme of 'Intersection of Global Interest in Central Asia', Muraleedharan emphasised on India's policy of greater cooperation with the Central Asian countries through various mechanisms, including the India-Central Asia Dialogue, connectivity through Chabahar and the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and greater cooperation in the field of security and counter-terrorism. ​During the meeting held with Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan, Mukthar Tleuberdi, both sides highly evaluated the ongoing cooperation between the two countries.

Recalling the strategic partnership between the two countries, both sides decided to further strengthen their cooperation in the fields of energy, trade and investment, IT, civil aviation, connectivity and in the multilateral fora, including the United Nations, the statement said. Tleuberdi welcomed the first India-Central Asia Dialogue held at the level of Foreign ministers' in January this year in Samarkand in Uzbekistan and looked forward to the next edition planned to be held in New Delhi next year.

Muraleedharan called on the Kazakh side to join the Coalition of Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the UN Climate Action Summit in New York on September 23 this year. ​During an interaction with Kazakhstan's first Vice Minister for Energy,

M Dosmukhambetov, Muraleedharan expressed India's strong interest in expanding the participation of Indian oil companies in the Kazakh hydrocarbon sector. The two sides agreed to continue further discussions in various areas during the framework of the next bilateral Inter-Governmental Commission Meeting expected to be held in New Delhi in the near future, the statement added.

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