Kazakhstan to assist India's security measures

Astana: Kazakhstan today offered to assist in India' efforts to ensure its energy security even as it hoped for greater cooperation in the food production and education spheres. The affirmation came during a meeting between visiting Indian Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari and Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev that lasted just under an hour.

 

"The president was very forthright on the energy and food production areas and mentioned that a lot of groundwork still needs to be done," a senior official of India's external affairs ministry, who is accompanying Ansari on his visit, told reporters after the meeting. "For instance, the Kazakhstan president mentioned that his country was currently producing 50 million tonnes of oil a year and that this could rise to 100 million tonnes per year in 10 years. This could signal hydrocarbons exports to India if infrastructure issues are worked out," the official said. Indian Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahmed was among those who attended the meeting.

 

Ansari is on a six-day visit to cash-rich Central Asia to boost India's engagement with the region and to expand cooperation in the economic and educational sectors. During a meeting between Ansari and Kazakhstan Prime Minister Karim K Massimov, on Monday, reiterated Kazakhstan's support for India's bid for a permanent seat in an expanded UN Security Council. The two countries also pledged to ramp their engagement in the fields of hydrocarbons, food production, education and IT.

 

Ansari in the afternoon today left for Almaty where the Kazakh State University will confer an honorary doctorate on him. (IANS)