“Kyrgyzstan is developing its bilateral relations with India as a distant neighbour. We are strategic partners.”
Dear Minister, could you please tell us briefly about the history of bilateral relations and in what priority areas does Kyrgyzstan intend to expand cooperation with India?
Kyrgyzstan and India are linked by centuries-old history and culture, the long history of our cultural interaction testifies to the deep ties between the peoples of our countries, which are becoming stronger every year. Currently, this dialogue continues, presenting a unique opportunity to exchange views on the state and prospects of our interaction.
After the Kyrgyz Republic gained independence on August 31, 1991, India was one of the first republics to establish diplomatic relations with the new sovereign state. There is a deep mutual understanding between the Kyrgyz Republic and India, which allows for the development of fruitful cooperation based on traditional friendship and mutual trust. Thanks to our joint efforts, we have built mutually beneficial, strategic partnership relations that are developing in all areas of interest, including trade and economic, military defense, cultural and humanitarian and educational spheres.
I would like to emphasize that Kyrgyzstan and India are linked by historical and civilizational development features. Political relations between our countries have traditionally been warm and friendly. In this regard, we plan to continue working in such sectors as trade, investment, defense and security. Another priority area is cooperation in reducing the threats of terrorism, extremism and drug trafficking.
How Kyrgyzstan can interest India, especially since we are geographically far from each other?
In my opinion, it is not necessary to have a common border for successful cooperation. Today, Kyrgyzstan is developing its bilateral relations with India as a distant neighbour. We are strategic partners. In addition to excellent bilateral cooperation, our countries work closely together on international platforms. We manage to achieve mutual understanding, there is a similarity of views on international and regional issues.
This is proofed by the Central Asia-India Summit, initiated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. All five presidents of the region’s countries, including Sadyr Zhaparov, participated in it. The First Summit adopted a declaration defining the areas of cooperation. In addition to the foreign ministers, the trade and culture ministers of Kyrgyzstan and India regularly meet. Meetings of the secretaries of the security councils are successfully held.
Overall, I would like to note that the establishment of bilateral relations between Kyrgyzstan and India celebrated its 33rd anniversary this year.In recent years, cooperation between the two countries has strengthened. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited Bishkek twice, and Kyrgyzstan’s leaders have repeatedly visited New Delhi.
During the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Kyrgyzstan in 2019, documents on specific cooperation between the ministries and authorities of the two countries were signed. Priority areas have been chosen in such areas as trade, IT technology, and pharmaceuticals. The parties also agreed on investment cooperation. Currently, we are following the priorities outlined during the visit, these are regional development, information technology, tourism, infrastructure, digitalization, etc.
One of the most important results of the visit was that we raised our bilateral relations to a new level – the level of strategic partnership. The agenda is constantly expanding, and visits are taking place both at the highest level and at the level of foreign ministers. I visited India in May 2023, where I had a productive meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
How do you assess the cooperation prospects between our countries?
Firstly, as I noted above, high-level dialogue takes place regularly, it sets the tone for the entire spectrum of our cooperation. Also, Kyrgyz-Indian Foreign Office Consultations are held on a regular basis, during which the parties conduct a comprehensive review of bilateral relations. I must say that they are developing satisfactorily in various fields, including the political and economic spheres, as well as trade, defense and education.
Meetings of the Kyrgyz-Indian intergovernmental commission on trade, economic and scientific and technical cooperation are regularly held, which give impetus to the expansion of bilateral trade and investment opportunities.
The parties are interested in participating in trade fairs and exhibitions in both countries.
Unfortunately, it should be noted that the level of trade and investment between Kyrgyzstan and India is below the real potential. We need to make joint efforts to raise it. Especially since we have a lot to talk about and work on. Primarily in sectors such as medicine, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, education, information technology, business process outsourcing, infrastructure, agriculture and processing of agricultural products, energy, space, textile, leather and footwear industry, precious stones and jewelry, hydropower, hospitality and tourism. In my opinion, these are the most promising areas of bilateral cooperation.
In 2021, a the Memorandum of Understanding between the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Government of the Republic of India regarding Indian Grant Assistance for Implementation of High Impact Community Development Projects was signed. Work in this area continues. Taking into account the intensification of trade and economic relations between our countries, National banks are negotiating to establish direct correspondent relations (P2P) between commercial banks of the two countries. Also, our parties are currently negotiating the opening of the Kyrgyz-Indian University in Bishkek in the Kyrgyz Republic.
What can Kyrgyzstan offer India?
We have already outlined a range of priority sectors in which we would like to develop partnership, I have listed them above. In addition, we can actively cooperate in the fields of light industry, education, environmental protection, standardization and metrology, banking, transport, labour, mining and energy sectors. Agreements have been reached on the export of Kyrgyzstan’s organic products to Indian markets. These are honey, nuts, and there are also ideas for cooperation in ecotourism to preserve the snow leopard.
We are interested in the vast experience of India’s work in the context of the UN. India is the largest supplier of peacekeeping forces. As far as I know, currently more than 200 thousand Indian military personnel are taking part in various peacekeeping missions in Asia and Africa. We are interested in this experience, and we could cooperate in this area. For our part, we should also note the close cooperation between various ministries and authorities of our countries. As an example, we can mention among them the Diplomatic Academy, The Central Election Commission, the National Institute for Strategic Studies, the National Academy “Manas”, the National Library, the National Museum and the Kyrgyz-India Mountain Biomedical Research Centre and others.
Could you please tell us about cooperation in the field of culture and education, are there any significant projects?
Of course, this area is very important in our relations, and we pay special attention to it. Thus, the Cultural Center of India operates in the National Library of Bishkek. It gives the citizens of our country an opportunity to learn more about your republic and Indian culture.
English and Hindi are taught there, and yoga classes are held.
There is an active exchange of creative teams, artists and figures of culture between the countries. This year, the epic “Manas” was translated into Hindi, which was presented during my visit. Telemedicine can be noted as a promising area of cooperation. There is already a network that is successfully operating in three hospitals in Bishkek, clinics in Osh, Karakol and Talas region. The National Center for Oncology and Hematology in Bishkek operates the “Babatron II” simulator for the treatment of cancer patients. This is motegamma therapeutic device designed for radiation therapy of malignant tumors.
A high-altitude research station of the Kyrgyz-Indian Mountain Biomedical Research Center operates on the Suek Pass at an altitude of more than 4 thousand meters. It studies biological reactions in the process of acclimatization in the highlands. Another successful area is the field of education, currently more than 18 thousand Indian students study at medical universities in Kyrgyzstan.
Also, we are interested in medical tourism to India.India offers world-class medical services at an affordable price. Indian clinics have signed cooperation agreements with various hospitals in Kyrgyzstan. Many Kyrgyz citizens travel to India for medical care, especially in the field of transplantation of internal organs, bone marrow, etc.
Given the lack of a direct transport corridor, we strive to solve this problem together. Thus, in addition to the existing direct flights between Kyrgyzstan and India, Indigo Airline from the beginning of 2025 plans to fly up to three times a week between our capitals on a regular basis. I hope that this will help to develop tourism and commercial activities between our business communities. We have many points of contact on which we successfully cooperate.
You have noted successful areas of cooperation. And what shortcomings in the development of relations between our countries would you note and how can they be corrected?
It cannot be said that there are any shortcomings in our bilateral relations. Of course, there are flaws, which is natural when building a partnership. But they are also conditioned by factors that do not depend on us, but rather relate to issues of our geographical location.
In this regard, we must jointly carefully study and work on projects such as the use of the International North–South Transport Corridor and the Chabahar port. I think that the implementation of these projects will be an important step in solving logistics issues and will give impetus to Indian-Kyrgyz trade relations. In addition, it should probably be noted that India knows relatively little about Central Asia. Of course, the Central Asian region has its place in India’s foreign policy, but among the ordinary population of India, little is understood about the state structure and cultural characteristics of the peoples of the Central Asian countries.
In turn, in Kyrgyzstan they know a lot about India, Kyrgyzstanis love Indian cuisine, watch Indian films, as I have already noted, more than 18 thousand Indians receive higher education in the Kyrgyz Republic. At the same time, I note with great regret that in Kyrgyzstan there are relatively few who know Hindi. In this context, I am sure that the opening of a Kyrgyz-Indian university in Kyrgyzstan can make a huge contribution to our countries learning much more about each other.
Thank you for your attention.