On Thursday, January 27, the first India-Central Asia summit took place, held on a digital system. The high-level meeting was attended by the Prime Minister of India and the Presidents of the states of Central Asia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan reports.
In his speech at the summit, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov noted the significance of this anniversary year for the countries of Central Asia and India, which established diplomatic relations 30 years ago.
Emphasizing that India is a close friend and important partner for Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov stressed that the current meeting is designed to bring relations between the countries of Central Asia and India to new frontiers, which have a huge human, industrial, natural, technological potential.
The Turkmen leader singled out energy and transport as key vectors of economic partnership between the countries of Central Asia and India, the State News Agency of Turkmenistan reports.
The countries of Central Asia, known for their rich natural resources, are now capable of seriously working on the creation of an energy bridge «Central Asia – India», Turkmen leader said.
Noting that Turkmenistan is already implementing a project of geoeconomic and geopolitical significance – the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov added that the Turkmen side is ready to discuss with Indian colleagues the possibilities of cooperation also in the electric power sector.
Referring to the partnership in the field of transport, the Turkmen leader noted that “we are talking, first of all, about the creation of Eurasian transport corridors through Central Asia to sea terminals in the Indian Ocean.
Turkmenistan, as a country through whose territory is provided, in fact, the only shortest route from this region to the Persian Gulf and from there to India, attaches priority to this direction, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said.
Noting the great importance of the Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Oman-Qatar transport corridor project, the President stressed that India's accession to this project opens up additional opportunities for its participants.
- In order to resolve issues of free movement of goods and services between India and Central Asia, our country supports the proposals of the Indian side to include the Chabahar port in the structure of the North-South International Transport Corridor and to create an appropriate Joint Working Group.
In this context, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov also proposed to consider the issue of including the port of Turkmenbashi in this transit direction.
