EAM Jaishankar holds bilateral talks with counterparts from Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan

New Delhi, Jul 29 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held separate bilateral talks with his counterparts from Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan on the margins of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) conclave in Tashkent on Friday.

The meeting of the SCO was also attended by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Pakistan’s Bilawal Bhutto. The external affairs minister also met the Secretary-General of the SCO, Zhang Ming, on the sidelines of the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting. “Met with Secretary-General of the SCO Zhang Ming. India continues to bring more ideas and initiatives to strengthen cooperation amongst SCO countries. Our Presidency next year will give a renewed thrust to these efforts,” Jaishankar said in a tweet.

He described his talks with Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin as “useful”. “A useful conversation on the evolving regional situation with FM Sirojiddin Muhriddin of Tajikistan. Our long-standing cooperation encourages us to have open exchange of views,” the external affairs minister tweeted. He said development cooperation, connectivity and issues relating to the pharma sector figured in his talks with Kyrgyz leader Jeenbek Kulubaev.

“A good conversation with FM of Kyrgyzstan Jeenbek Kulubaev on SCO sidelines. Discussed our bilateral partnership in political, development cooperation, education, connectivity and pharma,” he said. In their talks, Jaishankar and Vladimir Norov, the acting Uzbek foreign minister, took stock of bilateral cooperation.

“Glad to meet gracious host Vladimir Norov, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan. Took stock of our bilateral cooperation, especially development partnership. Spoke about connectivity challenges to be addressed through regional collaboration,” the external affairs minister said in another tweet.

Jaishankar held bilateral talks with Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi on Thursday. “We recognized the progress made since our last meeting in New Delhi in December 2021. The current situation calls for stronger Indo-Kazakh cooperation across all domains,” the external affairs minister said.