India will train Kyrgyzstan’s Parliament members and staff, besides diplomats as a goodwill gesture to boost bilateral ties. During their meeting on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kyrgyzstan President Almazbek Atambayev also pledged to work together to prevent youths from falling prey to terrorism and radicalisation.
“President Atambaev and I held extensive discussions on the full range of our bilateral engagement. We focused on our common priority of diversifying and deepening bilateral engagement. We also discussed how we could work together to secure our youth and society against the common challenges of terrorism, extremism, and radicalism. We agreed on the need to coordinate and work closely in addressing and overcoming these challenges for our common benefit,” Modi said in a media statement after the talks.
Kyrgyzstan last year conducted its parliamentary elections using biometric data. The Indian side offered to share their experience through special courses which will be arranged for the Members and staff of the Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic.
The two countries also have a strong defence cooperation. They hold annual military exercises and regular mountaineering expeditions. India and Kyrgyzstan are jointly constructing the Kyrgyz-Indian Mountain Training Centre in Balykchi, in Issyk-Kul District of Kyrgyzstan. This Centre will provide training for Armed Forces of the Kyrgyz Republic and host Kyrgyz-Indian joint mountain training exercises.
Atambayev mooted the idea of Kyrgyz-Indian fund, one the lines of Kyrgyz-Russian Fund, to support entrepreneurs from India. “We are grateful to the Indian side that presented us Babatron radiotherapy machine for the treatment of cancer,” Atambayev added.
Eight agreements covering tourism, agriculture, bilateral investment treaty, youth exchange programmes were signed after the talks. Atambayev presented the first copy of heroic epic of the Kyrgyz people ‘Manas-Semetei-Seitek’ in Hindi to Modi. PM gave the first copy of a collection of Indian poems in the Kyrgyz language, ‘Colours of life’ to Atambayev as a special gift from India. “It is not a coincidence that the Kyrgyz people have a hero Manas, and the same hero in India is also named Manas,” Atambayev said. He mentioned that his generation used to watch Indian movies and he still remembers the love songs by Raj Kapoor.