Minister Kirti Vardhan Singh heads to Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan

Amid Pakistan's outreach to Eurasia following Operation Sindoor, India is deputing a minister to visit Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, both of whom share strategic partnership with New Delhi.

Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs, and Environment, Forest & Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh will visit Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic for a week beginning Friday.

Singh will meet the foreign ministers of both countries and other high-level officials.


Kyrgyzstan withdrew its envoy from Pakistan for appearing to be pro-Pakistan during the Indo-Pak conflict as Bishkek felt it would damage its ties with India. Bishkek withdrew its envoy from Islamabad for organising a CEO Forum in the middle of the India-Pakistan conflict as the central Asian country's President felt that such a forum could be viewed as a step that could jeopardise its ties with New Delhi.

While Pakistan has increased its business ties with Kyrgyzstan and people-to-people ties have picked up, Bishkek's ties with India date back to the Soviet Union days and are built on goodwill ever since. Recently, the Kyrgyz authorities also cracked down on illegal migrants presumably from Pakistan and Bangladesh.

India is also planning to host five Central Asian foreign ministers in June to boost counter-terror, connectivity and business ties.

In Tajikistan, MoS will lead the Indian delegation to the High-Level International Conference on Glaciers' Preservation being held in Dushanbe on 29 May-1 June, officials informed.