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In January 2006, think tanks from India and Kazakhstan participated in a seminar on Indo-Kazakh Perspective on Socio-Economic Development of Central Asia. Organised by the India Central Asia Foundation (ICAF), headed by K Santhanam, the seminar also saw the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the ICAF and the Kazakh Institute for Strategic Studies, embarking on the strategies for the socio-economic development of the region. The visiting scholars, Dr Bulat K Sultanov, Director, Kazakhastan Institute for Strategic Studies and Dr Leila M Muzaparova, Deputy Director, Institute of World Economics and Policy at the First Kazakhastan President Foundation, were accompanied by HE Kairat Umarov, Kazakhastan’s Ambassador to India. Emphasising on the exchange of knowledge, former Ambassador to Russia (and earlier, High Commissioner to Bangladesh)
K. Raghunath, Vice President, ICAF, said that both the countries would build up a database of information, which would be available to the scholars and business entrepreneurs of all the countries of the region. “We have to facilitate scholarly exchanges between India and Kazakhstan and subsequently with others. We’ll have a lot of bilateral scholarly exchanges, possibly once in three-four years. We’ll have larger regional conferences on funds permitting. We also think that over a period of time we will build up a database of information on economic, demographic, natural resources and other things,” said Raghunath. “It would be a common database, not a large one which is locked in the ministries of the governments. It would be available to the scholars, the Chamber of Commerce and Industries and whosoever wants to have a business relationship or to promote joint ventures between India and entities of these countries,” he said. Acknowledging the strategic importance of Kazakhstan, Professor Nirmala Joshi, Director, ICAF, said that being located at the centre of Eurasia, Kazakhstan could play a vital role in the development of the Central Asian region with its vast population, and intellectual and natural resources. “Kazakhstan is one of the leading countries in Central Asia. It has a lot of energy and other natural resources. It is very well located at the centre of Eurasia, and has a very highly literate population (17 million). The GDP and the economic growth rate are quite good. Therefore India must have some kind of dynamic relationship with it. We have good relations with Kazakhstan, and would like to see more dynamism and vigour for the benefit of both the countries. The purpose of organising this seminar is to understand how Kazakhstan and India look at certain developments and how they can
benefit from each other,” said Professor Joshi. He also expressed concern on the challenges towards the goal of sustainable economic development in the region. “The threats to the Central Asia coming from religious extremism, terrorism and drug trafficking are a challenge to maintaining sustainable economic development, which is very important,” she said. The intelligentsia of both the countries however, held the single belief that co-operation between the two countries was a positive step towards regional tie ups in the region. “In my opinion, it has greater role for the future development and security situation in our region. There are great possibilities for economic co-operation in trade, investment, and production. There is also possibility for development of joint ventures in the spheres of production, infrastructure, oil production, foreign trade, pharmaceuticals, innovation and industrial development,” said Dr. Leila M. Muzaparova.
An earlier major development in India’s growing relationship with Kazakhastan was the visit of former Prime Minister A B Vajpayee to attend the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures (CICA) in Almaty, in early June 2002. The two countries also signed two agreements on cooperation in fields of defence and tourism in the presence of Vajpayee and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Vajpayee, who held wide-ranging talks with Nazarbayev said that the Kazakh leader “fully understood” India’s concerns and the tensions in South Asia created by cross-border terrorism. He said, “We have the same perspectives on firmly countering international terrorism. We have agreed to set up a Joint Working Group for cooperation against terrorism... our military technical cooperation should expand beyond a buyer-seller relationship into transfer of technology, research and development.” The Prime Minister and the Kazakh leader identified four
other major sectors comprising oil and gas, information technology, pharmaceuticals and small-scale industries for cooperation between the two countries. Conveying his deep appreciation for Kazakhstan’s support for a permanent seat for India in the United Nations Security Council, the Indian Prime Minister had added that the roots of terrorism were deep and widespread and unfortunately nation-states were also involved in sponsoring the menace. Money generated from trade in narcotic drugs and illicit weapons by powerful cartels and certain countries were being used to sponsor terrorism, he asserted. “Today there is a greater need for cooperation among countries as there is no corner in the world which is safe,” he said. On Indo-Kazakh economic cooperation, Vajpayee said that New Delhi was prepared to make a major investment in the oil and gas sector in Kazakhstan, which has 20 billion tonnes of oil reserves and has found fresh deposits in Caspian Sea basin. The investment could be on the lines of that made by India in the Sakhali Oil Field in Russia, the Prime Minister said, adding that feasibility of laying a pipeline from Kazakhstan to supply energy resources to India and other eastern countries should be explored. On his talks with Nazarbayev, Vajpayee said that India had agreed to promote joint ventures in information technology and would extend full support to the establishment of a software technology park. “We have also agreed to upgrade our cooperation in pharmaceutical sectors and in small-scale industries. Our agreement to promote tourism will enrich bilateral relations through closer people-to-people exchanges,” he elaborated. Observing that the presence of Ispat group in Kazakhstan was a “good beginning” for greater economic presence in this country, he said more and more Indian companies were setting up their representative offices in Kazakhstan. Vajpayee said the large business delegation from FICCI and CII accompanying him reflected the growing interest in forging closer links in the economic field. Several hundred Indian students in Kazakhstan were also enhancing bilateral cultural relations, he informed. In a special gesture to India during that visit, Pinfilova Street, an avenue in the tranquil Public Square, was renamed after Mahatama Gandhi at a special function.
Some significant points made by Umarov during his interaction with this writer were: “As regards the cooperation with India I can proudly say that with the victory of Nursultan Nazarbayev friendly ties between countries will be invigorated during his next tenure. His very friendly attitude towards India is well known in New Delhi...We aim to produce 150 million tonnes of oil annually by 2015 and enter the ranks of top 10 oil producers world. Recently, Deputy Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources of Kazakhstan, L. Kiinov attended the round table of Asian hydrocarbon producers and consumers on 25 November 2005 in New Delhi. At the roundtable, among other things, it was decided to study the establishment of networks coined as Inter-Asian Oil and Gas Transportation System. This was preceded by Indian Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Mani Shankar Aiyer’s tour to Almaty in October 2005 to take part in the 13th International Exhibition and Conference on Oil and Gas. ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) of India is establishing its presence in Kazakhstan to explore the opportunities for cooperation in the oil and gas sector. Cooperation in IT, energy, textile, construction, tourism, and pharmaceuticals are the areas identified as priority in our interaction. We also need the Indian expertise in the software development and high-tech. We welcome acceptance of India as an observer at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Astana Summit in July 2005. We also believe that the SCO should include India as a full-fledged member. It is especially important now when the SCO is increasingly turning into another balancing pole in world politics. Recent developments between the two countries are an indicator of a new phase of enhanced ties for better mutual benefit.”
(The author, a security analyst, is Managing Editor, WordSword Features & Media. Email:
wordsword02@yahoo.com)
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