Dear Ambassador Vijay Thakur Singh, Director General of ICWA,
Your Excellency Secretary (West) Mr. Sanjay Verma,
Distinguished participants and guests,
Dear colleagues,
First of all, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the Indian Council of World Affairs for organizing this important conference and inviting me.
It is heartening for me to note that we are celebrating 30th Anniversary of diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and India this year. Over the years, we have established a constructive political dialogue and are constantly expanding our multifaceted economic and humanitarian ties transformed to Strategic Partnership in 2009.
I would like to express my gratitude to the Secretary West for his vision of the prospects for cooperation between Central Asia and India, which coincide with the approaches of Kazakhstan. We are grateful to the leadership of the Ministry of External Affairs for the unprecedented intensification of Indian foreign policy towards our region and we are confident that in the nearest future we will begin to reap the benefits of such collaboration.
I have a few comments that I would like to share with you.
There are no insurmountable obstacles in the bilateral political relations between Kazakhstan and India.
We have actively been cooperating in both bilaterally or multilaterally, providing constant support to each other in UN, Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), “Central Asia - India” Dialogue etc.
Marking the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between our states and India on January this year we had the 1st «Central Asia – India» Summit. During such the paramount event our leaders have agreed to further deepen our mutually beneficial collaboration with India in various aspects of cooperation.
Thus, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the Indian side for the warm hospitality extended to Kazakh delegation led by NSA of Kazakhstan Mr. Gizzat Nurdauletov during the “Central Asia – India” National Security Advisor’s Meeting held in New Delhi on December 6, 2022.
We consider this format as another mechanism aimed to strengthen cooperation of the Central Asian states with India in the field of national security and defense.
We are also confident that the upcoming events at the frames of “Central Asia - India” Dialogue such as 2nd Summit, Foreign Minister’s Meeting, JWG on Afghanistan and Chabahar Port will be arranged at the highest level and the outcomes will be fruitful.
Of cause, we pay a special attention to promoting economic cooperation with India. We have an immense potential in deepening economic cooperation in such areas as renewables, pharmaceuticals, energy generation, IT, investments, space etc.
Kazakhstan is the main trading partner of India in Central Asia, the bilateral turnover exceeds the total trade with the rest of the countries in the region – 70%.
Glad to note that in January-October 2022, mutual trade indicators reached $1.7 billion, increasing on 6% comparing with the same last year period (Kazakh exports - $1.3 billion (-2.2%), imports from India - $414 million. (+30.5%)).
We look forward with great optimism to the outcomes of Mr. Gautam Adani's recent visit to Kazakhstan, where he held meetings with the President, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan as well as with the heads of Kazakhstani ministries and national companies.
Another Indian flagship company – Tata Group – is also interested in entering the Kazakh market. Hope this entity will also be able to find the interested fields to invest in Kazakhstan.
In general, Kazakhstan can be a great hub for India’s investments. Kazakhstan ranked the 25th country in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Report, and the country targets to enter the top 10 countries within 5 years. Given the investment opportunities of Kazakhstan’s agro-industrial complex, Kazakhstan can serve as a platform for production of agricultural products which will be delivered to neighboring countries.
In cultural and educational cooperation sphere, following up the agreements of the 1st “Central Asia - India” Summit on November 17-23, 2022 the youth Kazakh delegation visited New Delhi and Mumbai. Furthermore, nowadays we have 5 young diplomats studying in Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service.
Moreover, there are a lot of Kazakh students in different Indian institutes came through Indian Council for Cultural Relations and Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation program.
In this regard, I would like to express our gratitude to the Indian side for providing such the important opportunities in human empowerment and skill development to the Kazakh citizens via various programs.
In recent years, processes of political and economic cooperation have been significantly intensified in Central Asia. This is a positive trend. Today, Kazakhstan and our region demonstrate openness and readiness for mutually beneficial cooperation with all interested states and organizations. As my President mentioned, our aim is to continuously strengthen friendly and mutually beneficial ties with India.
Summarizing my remarks, I would like to emphasize that we have no alternative but to build up cooperation between our countries. India and the Central Asian countries are natural partners and friends. We need to value that. I am sure that today's discussions will help us to develop the best recommendations for our further actions.
I wish you good health and every success in your noble endeavors!
Thank you!
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