Indian media reports say the second meeting of the India-Central Asia Dialogue was held in the digital video-conference format on 28 October, under the chairmanship of the External Affairs Minister of India Dr. S. Jaishankar.
Foreign Ministers of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan as well as First Deputy Foreign Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic participated in the meeting. Acting Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan attended the meeting as a special invitee.
The meeting resulted with adoption of a Joint Statement.
According to the Joint Statement of the meeting, the Ministers highly assessed the 1st meeting of the India-Central Asia Dialogue held on 13 January 2019 in Samarkand (Uzbekistan) in establishing a platform for strengthening cooperation between India and the Central Asian countries in political, security, economic and commercial, development partnership, humanitarian and cultural spheres as well as exchanging views on regional and international issues of mutual interest and enhancing cooperation under the framework of UN and other multilateral fora. They called for building a comprehensive and enduring India-Central Asia partnership on the basis of their historical, cultural and civilizational bonds as well as traditionally close people-to-people contacts.
The Ministers emphasized the need to continue close cooperation between the Sanitary and Epidemiological Services of India and the Central Asian countries in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ministers of Central Asia’s nations welcomed the provision by India of US$ 1 billion Line of Credit for priority developmental projects in fields such as connectivity, energy, IT, healthcare, education, agriculture etc. They also welcomed India’s offer to provide grant assistance for implementation of High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDP) for furthering socio-economic development in the countries of the region.
The statement added that the Ministers emphasized the importance of concerted efforts to further expand trade and economic cooperation including promoting direct ties between the businesses of India and the Central Asian countries. The Ministers appreciated India’s efforts to modernize the infrastructure of the Chabahar port in Iran, which could become an important link in trade and transport communications between the markets of Central and South Asia.
The Ministers strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and reaffirmed the determination of their countries to combat this menace by destroying terrorist safe-havens, networks, infrastructure and funding channels.
The statement says the Ministers welcomed the participation of Afghanistan in the India- Central Asia Dialogue. They called for the settlement of the Afghan conflict on the principle of Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled peace process. The Ministers expressed their interest in strengthening cooperation for the development and economic reconstruction of Afghanistan, including through the implementation of infrastructure, energy, transit and transport projects. They also emphasized preserving the socioeconomic development and political gains made by Afghanistan in the last 19 years. The Ministers extended support for a united, sovereign and democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
