Speech of Ambassador at Informal Interaction Event with Kazakh Journalists
20 September 2022
I would like to thank each one of you for coming over and giving us good media coverage. This year is special for India-Kazakhstan relations as it marks the 30th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations between India and Kazakhstan, as well as 75th anniversary of Indian independence.
Political:
Relations between India and Kazakhstan are ancient and historical, going back to more than 2000 years. There has been a constant and regular exchange in goods and, more importantly, exchange of ideas and cultural influences.
India was one of the first countries to recognize the independence of Kazakhstan. Diplomatic relations were established in February 22, 1992.
Continuous visits at the high levels has given fillip to our relationship. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi visited Kazakhstan in 2015 and 2017. President Tokayev participated in India-Central Asia Summit in January 2022.
Recently our Foreign Ministers met twice on the sidelines of multilateral fora. Kazakhstan's Minister of Trade and Integration and Vice Minister of Digital Development visited India this year. The Indian Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture paid a visit to Kazakhstan.
We have established multiple formats of bilateral engagements such as the India-Central Asia Summit, the India-Central Asia Foreign Ministers Meeting, the India-Central Asia Intergovernmental Commission, Foreign Office Consultations, etc.
For India, Kazakhstan is our extended neighborhood.
Trade:
When it comes to economic and trade relations, they are growing steadfastly. Kazakhstan is India’s largest trade and investment partner in Central Asia. Despite the vagaries of the pandemic, our bilateral trade has crossed the $2 billion USD mark for the second year in a row. We have a huge opportunity to expand this trade.
Defence:
India and Kazakhstan became strategic partners in 2009. Defence cooperation is an essential pillar of our strategic partnership with Kazakhstan. Since 2018, troops of India and Kazakhstan have jointly served under the United Nations flag in Lebanon. In 2015, India deployed the Param Bilim supercomputer in Kazakhstan to boost academics and scientific research programmes.
Culture:
India and Kazakhstan enjoy close cultural relations that manifest in popularity of yoga, Indian films, dance and music in Kazakhstan.
The Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre in Astana is engaged in various cultural activities, including conducting of yoga, dance and music classes. We are proud to announce that this year the International Day of Yoga was celebrated in 21 cities of Kazakhstan. We see the immense popularity of Yoga among Kazakh people. Especially in Astana, Minister of Health and Vice Minister of Culture of Kazakhstan participated in IDY 2022.
Development partnership occupies a paramount place in India's foreign policy. India offers two types of scholarships for Kazakh youth - the Indian Technical & Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC) and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations scholarship. Under the ITEC programme, India provides capacity building assistance to Kazakhstan in a variety of specialized fields like agriculture, banking, law, artificial intelligence, IT, engineering, urban planning, management, etc. More than 1329 specialists have been trained under the ITEC programme since 1992. Tomorrow we are going to celebrate ITEC Day. During the program, Kazakh students who received the scholarship will share their experiences in India. Under the ICCR Scholarship programmes, India offers scholarships in a variety of art disciplines to students from Kazakhstan.
In November, India will host a Youth Delegation Program in New Delhi as part of the India-Central Asia Summit format. Kazakhstan will be represented in this forum by 20 youth icons from various fields.
A sculpture of the great Kazakh poet and philosopher Abai Kunanbayev was unveiled recently in New Delhi by our Minister of State of Culture in India.
Education:
Education is one of the promising areas of cooperation between our countries. There are currently over 5300 Indian students studying in Kazakhstan. They are mostly from the medical field. India is known for its IT prowess. Kazakh students can also come to India for engineering and IT studies under the ‘Study in India’ program.
Tourism:
India offers tourism for all seasons. Places like Goa and Taj Mahal are very popular among Kazakh people. India is a very popular destination for medical and wellness tourism for its quality and affordability. Efforts are being made to bring in Indian film industry to shoot in beautiful locales of Kazakhstan. Indian people remember Kazakh people for their warm hospitality and beautiful culture when they visit Kazakhstan. That is why, we have huge scope to improve our people to people connect.
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