Kazakhstan's Ambassador to India, Bulat Sarsenbayev, has said his country is keenly looking forward to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's two-day official visit on July 7 and 8, and believes that the already "dynamic' Indo-Kazakh ties will get a huge fillip with this visit.
In an exclusive e-mailed interview given to ANI on Monday, Ambassador Sarsenbayev said, "We see this visit of your Prime Minister to our country as a significant event in Kazakh-Indian relations. This visit will allow us to bring the strategic partnership on the path of long-term development through the expansion of trade, economic, technological and investment cooperation."
Commenting on the takeaways that he expected from Prime Minister Modi's visit, the envoy said, "There will be a business council meeting and both delegations will sign bilateral documents of mutual importance to both countries. An online video conference is also in the pipeline, and the success of the drilling of the first exploration well in the oil and gas block -Satpayev - developed jointly by the Indian oil company, ONGC Videsh Ltd. and KazMunaiGas, will be presented in front of both President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It will be a testimony to India's entry into the oil and gas industry of Kazakhstan as a major international player and a sharing of successful cooperation in this field."
Describing India as a leading country in the South Asian region, the envoy said, "India is rapidly integrating into the centre of world processes. Delhi is a part of the club of 12 largest economies of the world whose GDP exceeds one trillion dollars. India is now considered in the West not as regional, but as an emerging global power. Analysts predict that by 2025, India may have the third largest GDP in the world after China and the United States. India is widely known for its achievements in the sphere of high technologies, especially in the fields of aerospace, nuclear engineering and software."
Ambassador Sarsenbayev further stated that Kazakhstan feels that there is an urgent need to establish closer cooperation with India.
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"India gives developments in Central Asia a special role in its foreign policy, and Kazakhstan considers New Delhi not only as a serious trade, but also as a serious political partner. India's political stability, high economic, scientific and technical potential and its attractive investment climate are the reasons for this," he said.
The envoy told ANI that a well established political cooperation between the two countries is a good basis for the development of mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation.
"For the development and strengthening of trade and economic relations, we have held ministerial and consular consultations. Meetings of the inter-governmental commission and six Joint Working Groups (JWG) i.e. on trade and economic cooperation; military technical cooperation; for information-technology; development of the textile industry; combating terrorism and countering tea debt - were held last month. There are plans to establish JWGs on oil and gas; transport and logistics; health and pharmacology. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan plays a central role in this system of bilateral relations, by coordinating this JWG work, and if necessary, initiates governmental decrees and decisions to achieve positive outcomes," Ambassador Sarsenbayev said.
"We are actively cooperating with India in multilateral forums, international and regional organizations, which often share common views on global and regional processes. Kazakhstan supports India's aspirations to acquire permanent membership in the UN Security Council, while India supports the candidacy of the Republic of Kazakhstan as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2017-2018 and has confirmed its participation at Expo-2017. There is a great prospect for cooperation within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), in which India hopes to get full membership with Kazakhstan's help," he added.
India, he said, also supported the initiative of President Nazarbayev to hold a forum of world and traditional religions in Astana on June 10 this year, and has been a consistent supporter of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA).
"We look forward to India's constructive position on the issue of transformation of the CICA in the Organization for Security and Development in Asia," the envoy told ANI.
On the trade front, Ambassador Sarsenbayev said that the volume of trade between Kazakhstan and India for 2014 was over USD 1.34 billion, but added that, "We believe that this does not reflect the trade-economic potential and opportunities of two countries."
He said that not having permanent land transport routes was a primary reason for the lack of intensified bilateral trade between the two nations.
He referred to the new Uzen-Bereket-Bolashak Gorgan railway line, which was opened by the presidents of Kazakhstan, Iran and Turkmenistan on December 3, 2014. This line, he said, would reduce the transportation and cost of goods by double or more.
He said that during the visit of the president of Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, A. Mamin, to India on June 9 and 10, talks were held with the Indian authorities for developing the logistics for the transporting of goods to Kazakhstan via the Mundra Port and Mumbai to Bandar Abbas.
"Both parties are also considering the possibility of implementing joint projects for the construction and lease or acquisition of terminal facilities in the western Indian ports such as Mundra and Mumbai in order to create the optimal transport schemes between Kazakhstan and India, as well as the promotion of Indian exports," he said.
"We expect intensification after the fourth meeting of the Joint Working Group on Trade and Economic Cooperation in October 2015 to be held in Astana, and the first meeting of the JWG on transport and logistics in the second half of 2015 in India. The creation of a joint study group to conduct a feasibility study for a free trade agreement between member states of the Eurasian Economic Union and India will also facilitate the growth of bilateral trade," he said.
He further revealed that there are over 20 large bilateral investment projects in the pipeline, which once formalised, will give a strong impetus to bilateral trade and economic cooperation.
There are good opportunities for cooperation in the field of oil and gas, Ambassador Sarsenbayev said, adding that Kazakhstan's "Nur Zhol" economic initiative has identified five key principles to be followed to ensure better outcomes.
"The cooperation in the field of civil nuclear energy is developing along constructive lines. The contract for the supply of Kazakh uranium to India is being prepared for signing during Prime Minister Modi's visit to Kazakhstan," he told ANI.
By 2017, India will require an additional 500 million tons of coal a year, and on this count, India and Kazakhstan can consider bilateral cooperation in this area, he added.
Civil aviation, textiles, medicine, military-technical cooperation, culture, science and technology and education were other key areas where both nations could cooperate, the Kazakh envoy told ANI.
"In general, the state and prospects of development of Kazakh-Indian relations show that we have chosen the right vector of development of cooperation. Existing capacity is very large and almost unlimited. Kazakhstan will continue to strive to make the most of every opportunity to raise the strategic partnership to an even higher level, and to fill relations between India and Kazakhstan with new meaning and content for the sake of the friendship and prosperity of the people of two countries," he concluded.
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