For regional security, India-central Asia cooperation crucial: PM
This meeting assumes more importance in view of developments in Afghanistan
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Our concerns and objectives with respect to regional security are the same. We all are concerned about the developments in Afghanistan and in this context cooperation between India and Central Asia has become all the more important for regional stability and security
New Delhi: Cooperation between India and Central Asia is essential for regional security and is now more important in the context of developments in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the first summit with presidents of five Central Asian nations on Thursday.
Central Asia is "central to India's vision of an integrated and stable extended neighbourhood", Modi asserted at the virtual meet as the two sides also looked at adopting an integrated approach for regional connectivity and cooperation in the next 30 years. The summit, hosted by India, was attended by the five presidents -- Kazakhstan's Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Uzbekistan's Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan's Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow and Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyz Republic.
In his initial remarks at the summit, Modi said, "Our concerns and objectives with respect to regional security are the same. We all are concerned about the developments in Afghanistan and in this context cooperation between India and Central Asia has become all the more important for regional stability and security." Since the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban last year, India has been pitching for providing unimpeded humanitarian aid to Afghanistan to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis in the country.
