EAM S Jaishankar arrives in Kyrgyzstan capital’s Bishkek for bilateral meeting.
External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar arrived in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on Sunday at the invitation of Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Ruslan Kazakbaev.
Jaishankar tweeted, “Glad to have arrived in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan at the invitation of Finance Minister Ruslan Kazakbayev. Looking forward to a fruitful visit.”
Jaishankar went on a three-nation tour of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Armenia on Sunday. The External Affairs Minister will be on tour from October 10 to 13.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Jaishankar will be in the Kyrgyz Republic on October 10-11. He will leave for Kazakhstan on Monday. He will then visit Armenia on October 12-13, the foreign ministry said.
The ministry further said that the visit will provide an opportunity to review progress in India’s bilateral relations with the three countries as well as share views on the development of the region.
“This will be a continuation of our increased engagement with countries in our ‘extended neighbourhood’,” the ministry said.
This is Jaishankar’s first visit to Kyrgyzstan as foreign minister. He will hold bilateral meetings with Foreign Minister of Kyrgyzstan Ruslan Kazakbayev besides meeting President Sadir Zaparov. The Ministry of External Affairs said that some agreements, MoUs are also expected to be signed during the visit.
From October 11-12, Jaishankar will be in Kazakhstan to attend the sixth ministerial meeting of the Conference on Dialogue and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Nur-Sultan. Kazakhstan is the current president and initiator of the CICA Forum.
Jaishankar is also expected to hold bilateral talks with Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tiluberdi and meet the Kazakh leadership. Established in 1999, CICA is a forum aimed at enhancing cooperation through multilateral approaches towards promoting peace, security and stability in Asia.
Presently it has 27 member states and 9 observer states and 5 observer organisations, India is a member of CICA since its inception in 1999 and is actively participating in various activities organized under the aegis of CICA. Jaishankar will also visit Armenia on October 12-13.
This will be the first visit by an Indian Foreign Minister to independent Armenia. Jaishankar is scheduled to hold meetings with his Armenian counterpart as well as the Prime Minister and Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia.
.