Newly appointed Ambassador of India meets with journalists in Nur-Sultan
Ambassador Tripathi noted that Kazakhstan is India’s largest trade and investment partner in Central Asia. As per the latest statistics for 2019, total bilateral trade between India and Kazakhstan amounted to $1.86 billion.
FICCI and the Chamber of International Commerce of Kazakhstan have set up a Joint Business Council (JBC) to promote trade, economic and investment cooperation between the two countries and there lies tremendous scope in further increasing the trade volumes between both.
«As you are aware, I have only recently taken over as Ambassador of the Republic of India to Republic of Kazakhstan, last month and already I have fallen in love with this beautiful country and its large hearted and kind people. I look forward to professionally satisfying tenure here, sanguine in the hope that I’m able to take our bilateral relations even further,» said the Indian diplomat, adding that relations between India and Kazakhstan are ancient and historical, dating back to more than 2,000 years.
She also noted that India was one of the first countries to recognize the independence of Kazakhstan when diplomatic relations were established in February 1992.
«The Embassy of India was opened in Almaty in May 1992 and the Embassy of Kazakhstan in New Delhi in 1993. Both countries cemented their bilateral relationship into a ‘Strategic Partnership’ in 2009 when First President Nursultan Nazarbayev visited India as the guest of honor on the occasion of our Republic Day,» she added.
According to Ambassador Tripathi, India and Kazakhstan actively cooperate under the aegis of Multilateral Fora including CICA, SCO and the UN organizations. India has been a consistent supporter of Kazakhstan’s initiative on Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) and is actively participating in the process.
«India and Kazakhstan enjoy close cultural relations that manifest in popularity of yoga, Indian films, dance and music in Kazakhstan. Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre in Nur-Sultan is engaged in various cultural activities, including conducting of yoga, dance and music classes; celebration of Indian festivals. India provides scholarships in various disciplines under the ICCR Scholarship programs for students from Kazakhstan. The response from the people of Kazakhstan has been overwhelming. We have a good traffic during the tourist season of Indians visiting Almaty and similarly, a large number of Kazakh citizens visit India. I would like to encourage more people to do so and experience ‘incredible India’, first hand,» Shubhdarshini Tripathi noted.
She also said that India remains committed to the capacity building of Kazakhstan and regularly provides capacity building assistance in various specialized fields under our ITEC program sponsored by the Ministry of External Affairs. Since 1992, more than 1,100 specialists have undergone training under the ITEC program. At the request of the Ministry of Education and Science, a special six-week Teacher Training Course in English for 25 teachers from Kazakhstan was organized under the ITEC Program at EFLU, Hyderabad from 25 June to 3 August 2018. Upon popular demand, a similar program was once again organized in 2019.
«Defence cooperation is another essential pillar of our strategic partnership with Kazakhstan and is carried out under the framework of the agreement on ‘Defence and Military Technical Cooperation’ signed in July 2015. Our bilateral defence cooperation currently comprises military-technical cooperation, military education and training, joint exercises, bilateral visits, joint sports and adventure activities and a Youth Exchange Program,» she added.
«As you are aware, the Kazakh Peacekeeping contingent is currently deployed as part of the Indian Battalion in UNIFIL, Lebanon under a UN Mandate. This historic first for Kazakhstan, India and even the United Nations Peacekeeping history is another shining example of our intrinsic cooperation,» the Ambassador noted.
It should be reminded that the ceremony of presenting credential letters to the President of Kazakhstan by the newly appointed ambassadors, including Ambassador of India Shubhdarshini Tripathi, was held at the Akorda presidential palace on 11 June.
By Kazinform correspondent Akbota Kuzekbay