New Delhi, June 6 : External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar on Friday expressed his appreciation for the solidarity shown by Central Asian countries in condemning the horrific terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22. "I appreciate that your countries stood by India and condemned the heinous terrorist attack that took place in April in Pahalgam," the EAM said in his opening remarks at the 4th India-Central Asia Dialogue in New Delhi.

Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu, Tajikistan Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin, Turkmenistan Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov, Kyrgyzstan Foreign Minister Zheenbek Kulubaev and Uzbekistan Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov took part in the dialogue.

Addressing the session, EAM Jaishankar stated that India deeply cherishes its millennia-old civilisational and cultural ties with Central Asia.

"These age-old bonds, forged through trade, exchange of ideas, and people-to-people contacts, have strengthened over time, evolving into a partnership defined by shared aspirations, shared opportunities and common challenges," he said.

The EAM said that India's cooperation with the Central Asian countries received a "quantum boost" with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's back-to-back visits to all five Central Asian capitals in July 2015.

'We have marked three decades of our contemporary diplomatic ties with our Central Asian partners in 2022. We have worked together and laid down the legal and institutional framework, which has provided a foundation to further our mutually beneficial cooperation with each other individually and collectively,' he added

He emphasised that India remains a trusted development partner for all the Central Asian countries and highlighted that that trade, economic, and investment ties between India and Central Asia have strengthened significantly over the last decade.

'Together with the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) training slots and Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) scholarships, which are the most well-known form of our development partnership, we have also started providing High Impact Community Development projects as Indian grants for socio-economic development,' the EAM mentioned.

Asserting on the fruitful discussions during the India Central Asia Business Council meeting held on Thursday, Jaishankar stated that it focused on to remove impediments and add cooperation in digital technology, fintech, inter-bank relations, and to the existing list of areas, which would help both India and Central Asian region to realise the full potential of the economic cooperation.

'Both India and our Central Asian partners are committed to advancing mutually beneficial cooperation across all sectors, particularly trade and investment, defence, agro-processing, textiles, pharmaceuticals, regional connectivity, security, education, culture, people-to-people exchanges as well as new and emerging technologies,' he stated.

The India-Central Asia Dialogue, launched in January 2019 in Samarkand, serves as a key platform for strengthening ties between India and Central Asia. The second meeting took place virtually in October 2020 and focussed on regional security, counter-terrorism, and infrastructure development. The third meeting was held in New Delhi in December 2021 and emphasised connectivity to further deepen the ties between India and Central Asia.

/IANS