Minister of Defence of the Republic of India (Raksha Mantri),
Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman visited Nur-Sultan from 02 to 04 October 2018 at the invitation of Minister of Defence of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mr Nurlan Yermekbayev. During the visit, she met Minister of Defence, Mr Nurlan Yermekbayev and Minister of Defence and Aerospace Industry, Mr Beibut Atamkulov. They discussed full range of issues relating to defence and military technical cooperation and took stock of the progress that this bilateral relationship has made. She inspected a tri-service Guard of Honour at the Ministry of Defence. She had a meeting with Foreign Minister,
Mr Kairat Abdrakhmanov and also visited the Indian Military Art Room (IMAR) at the National Defence University.
India and Kazakhstan are bound by historical and cultural ties and this has laid a strong foundation for the multifaceted cooperation. They are strategic partners since 2009.
India and Kazakhstan Defence Cooperation includes military-technical cooperation, military education and training, joint military exercises, bilateral exchange of visits and cadet youth exchange programs. Over 200 Kazakh Defence Forces Personnel have undergone military training in India till date. Both countries successfully conducted a company level joint military exercise ‘KAZIND-2018’ in South Kazakhstan in September this year.
Jointly with the Minister of Defence, Mr Nurlan Yermekbayev,
Mrs Sitharaman presided over the flag off ceremony of the Kazakhstan contingent that will join the Indian contingent at United Nations International Peacekeeping Force in Lebanon.
India stands steadfastly committed to assist the UN in the maintenance of international peace and security with its history of UN Peacekeeping dating back to its inception in the 1950s. India’s partnership with Kazakhstan in UN Peacekeeping reflects its desire to support Kazakhstan in its contribution to global peace. The contingent of both countries have worked very hard over the past one year to prepare for this joint deployment. The Kazakh contingent will join the Indian Contingent at Lebanon by end of this month.
Mrs Nirmala Sitharaman extended invitation to the Minister of Defence,
Mr Nurlan Yermekbayev and Minister of Defence and Aerospace Industry,
Mr Beibut Atamkulov to visit Bangalore to attend AEROINDIA 2019 to be held in February 2019. The invitations were well received.
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