Kazakh Ambassador confident about Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan project

NEW DELHI: Operationalisation of the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran rail network and linking of Bandar Abbas port in Iran to Gujarat’s coast will open up a transport corridor into central Asia, Russia and Europe for India, according to Kazakh Ambassador Bulat Sarsenbayev.

“The railway link from Kazakhstan to Bandar Abbas Port via Turkmenistan will link Indian markets and exporters through Mundra port to the rest of central Asia as well, besides Russia and Europe,” he told ET. The Kazakhstan National Railway Company is in talks with the Adani Group to build a container terminal at Mundra Port.

The envoy said it will be parallel to the North-South (N-S) Corridor via Iran linking India with Eurasia and will contribute to the N-S Corridor. The Kazakh-Turkmen-Iran leg of the project is already operational. Kazakhstan is India’s largest trading partner in the region with a total trade volume of $1.3 billion.

The two sides are trying to implement nine key memoranda of understanding (MoUs) signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Astana in July. One of the key MoUs between Kazxnex Invest and Invest India includes a roadmap to identify 26 concrete projects in various sectors. Besides IT, pharmaceuticals and textiles higher education, space, small and medium business, power, food processing and agriculture have potential for engagement.

Indian companies can also bid for infrastructure and construction projects in Kazakhstan, the Ambassador pointed out. Simultaneously to increase visibility of Kazakhstan in India, a mega chamber concert is being organised at the Siri Fort and Nehru Park on Saturday and Sunday respectively to showcase its rich diversity and culture and will mark the 24th anniversary of its independence too.. “The ideology of secularism is nurtured by the state as a means to fight the radical groups,” said the envoy.

Sarsenbayev said the two countries have expanded defence cooperation across sectors from counterterrorism to defence training to defence dialogue to joint exercises to military aviation under the Indo-Kazakh Joint Military Technical cooperation agreement. Meanwhile, an Indian delegation (inspection commission) will visit Kazakhstan this month to finalise the import of uranium from the mineral-rich country under the bilateral agreement that was renewed during Modi’s trip for a five-year supply of the yellow cake.

Under this deal Kazakhstan will supply 5,000 tonne of uranium during 2015-19. Under the 2010-14 agreement Kazakhstan had supplied 2,100 tonne of uranium to India. Kazakhstan is the world’s largest uranium mining country.