Samikhsya Bureau
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday late evening wrapped up his two-day visit to Kyrgyz capital Bishkek where he attended the 19th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit.
The Prime Minister also held crucial rounds of bilateral engagements with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani among others.
“After a successful visit to Kyrgyzstan, PM Narendra Modi emplanes for New Delhi,” a ministry of external affairs spokesman tweeted.
During the visit a number of important MoUs and agreements were inked.
The ministry of external affairs said these include Joint Declaration between India and the Kyrgyz Republic on Strategic Partnership, a Road map on Trade and Economic Cooperation with the Kyrgyz Republic for the Five-Year period (2019-2024) and Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) between India and the Kyrgyz Republic.
The other pacts include Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation between National Security Council Secretariat of India and Office of the Security Council of the Kyrgyz Republic, a Protocol to Amend Article 26 of India-Kyrgyzstan Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the field of Health, MoU between DRDO and Kyrgyz India Mountain Biomedical Research Centre and a MoU on cooperation between National Security Guards of India and National Guards of the Armed Forces of the Kyrgyz Republic.
There was also a MoU inked between between Union ministry of consumer affairs and ministry of economy of the Kyrgyz Republic on cooperation in the field of legal metrology.
On the day, leaders of the SCO member states issued a declaration, calling for enhanced cooperation to promote peace and development. New development centers are emerging in Asia and the global balance of forces is going through a reconfiguration, said its document.
The situation in global politics and economy remains tense, and the process of economic globalisation is being hindered by the growing unilateralism and protectionism, and other challenges in international trade, it read.
The SCO members reaffirm their support for the efforts of the United Nations as a multilateral organisation in maintaining international peace and security, advancing global development, and promoting and protecting human rights.
The visit to Bishkek was Prime Minister Modi’s first multilateral engagement after re-election and visit had a rich haul of takeaways especially following interactions with the leaders of China, Russia and Kyrgyzstan on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Modi told Chinese President Xi Jinping at the delegation-level talks in the Kyrgyzstan capital that “We are committed to peaceful negotiations” and that India has made efforts in this endeavour but “these efforts have been derailed (by Pakistan)”.
“Prime Minister Modi informed President Xi that Pakistan needs to create an atmosphere free of terrorism and at this stage we did not see this happening. Therefore, we expect Pakistan to take concrete actions on all the issues that India has proposed,” foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale told a media briefing in Bishkek.
Both Modi and President Putin have identified oil link for deeper cooperation between the two nations, the foreign secretary added.
Indian and Kyrgyzstan on Friday also entered into a long term bilateral ties and declared each other as strategic partners. “India and Kyrgyzstan are now strategic partners,” the MEA spokesman announced.
“In a major outcome of the visit, both countries have decided to add strategic dimension to our ties to boost our relationship in defence and security, trade and investment, health, education and development cooperation, among other areas,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, in a season of repeated snubs to Pakistan vis-a-vis the vexed issue of sponsorship to terrorism, Prime Minister Modi on Friday “exchanged usual pleasantries” with his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan at the Leaders’ Lounge at Bishkek, informed sources disclosed to UNI.
Sources said the informal interactions between Modi and the Pakistan Prime Minister cannot be termed as ‘pull aside’ meeting also.
(With agency reports)
