PM's opening statement during the media interaction in Astana
Speaker: Dr.Manmohan Singh
Date: April 16, 2011 Astana, Kazakhstan

PM's opening statement during the media interaction in Astana I wish to begin by thanking your Excellency Mr. President, for your very warm words of welcome, and for the extraordinary hospitality that you and the government of Kazakhstan have accorded to me. I bring to the friendly people of Kazakhstan the fraternal greetings of the people of India. This is my first visit to Kazakhstan. I have discovered first hand the tremendous goodwill that exists here for India. I have seen the most impressive progress made by the people of Kazakhstan, the richness of their culture and the determination to build a bright future for themselves. Kazakhstan is a country blessed with vast potential. It has a key role to play in bringing peace and development to Central Asia. India would like to work with Kazakhstan in this noble endeavour. My talks with the President have been most productive. We reviewed the entire range of issues of mutual interest. We have had a complete meeting of minds. We have achieved a high level of political understanding, and we have agreed to encourage regular high level exchanges between our two countries. President Nazarbayev's visit to India in 2009 was a landmark event. It launched our strategic partnership and paved the way for the important agreements signed during my visit. These are the agreements on the Satpaev oil block, cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear energy, mutual legal assistance, agriculture, cyber security and healthcare. They represent solid and substantive outcomes in sectors where we have complementary strengths. In addition we have agreed on the need to diversify our cooperation, particularly in pharmaceuticals, information technology, mining, fertilizers and science and technology. I conveyed our offer to set up a joint Information Technology Centre of Excellence in the Eurasian University in Astana. We have agreed to intensify people to people exchanges and links between our businesses and companies, including through the establishment of joint ventures. I also conveyed our interest to benefit from the Customs Union between Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus. I am particularly happy about the signing of the Roadmap for projects and activities to be undertaken between 2011 and 2014. This reflects the seriousness of both sides and serves as a model of inter-state cooperation. We also reviewed developments in the region. We have agreed on the need to improve land connectivity so that trade and transit between India and Central Asia in general and Kazakhstan in particular can become the vehicle of integration and prosperity in the region. We discussed the situation in Afghanistan and cooperation in international forums, including the United Nations and regional processes. We have agreed that our agencies will intensify their dialogue in the fields of counter-terrorism, illicit drug trafficking and extremism. I am very satisfied with my discussions with the President today. I look forward to meeting His Excellency Prime Minister Karim Massimov later in the day. I have invited His Excellency the President to India and we look forward to an early visit by this very distinguished leader and a great friend of India.