External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday held wide-ranging talks with his Tajik counterpart Sirojiddin Muhriddin, covering bilateral ties in areas of energy, connectivity and trade, besides deliberating on the situation in Afghanistan.
Jaishankar described the talks as “productive” and said views were exchanged on expanding bilateral cooperation in several areas.
In his opening remarks, the external affairs minister talked about common concerns over developments in Afghanistan and said India was looking forward to easier travel with Tajikistan through recognition of vaccine certificates.
Muhriddin arrived here on Friday on a four-day bilateral visit as well as to attend the India-Central Asia Dialogue.
“Our support for each other during Covid, I think was very good. We were happy to provide ‘Made in India’ vaccines and certainly now we look forward to easier travel between India and Tajikistan through recognition of our vaccine certificates,” he said.
“We’ve also, of course as neighbours of Afghanistan, we have been very concerned at the developments there. And the participation of the Secretary of your Security Council in the Regional Security Dialogue, which we hosted in November, is something which is deeply appreciated,” Jaishankar said.
He also expressed New Delhi’s appreciation for Tajikistan’s support in the evacuation of Indian citizens from Kabul. Tajikistan had provided transit facilities to Indian flights that were part of the evacuation mission.
“I would also like to publicly thank you for the tremendous support that you gave us during the evacuation of Indians from Afghanistan in August and September, both Indians as well as some members of the Afghan minority community,” he said.
The external affairs minister also thanked Muhriddin for his country’s decision to join the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, an India-backed initiative.
“Productive discussions with my friend, Tajik FM Sirojiddin Muhriddin. Exchanged views on expanding our bilateral cooperation in energy, connectivity, trade, security and capacity building. Valued his insights on regional developments,” Jaishankar tweeted later.
The Tajik foreign ministry said the two sides discussed the security situation in the region besides exchanging views on strengthening ties in areas of trade, investment, energy, culture and education.
“The foreign ministers discussed the issues of development of bilateral relations and stressed the need to implement the agreements reached by the leaders of the two countries on strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation,” it said.
It further said the two sides discussed other issues related to the deepening of bilateral relations in the framework of international and regional organizations, as well as the security situation in the region.
Source: republicworld.com
