Indo-Kazakh Bilateral Cooperation Moving Along Right Lines: Envoy

| Ashok Dixit, Editor - Foreign Affairs, IOP - 10 Dec 2018

Indo-Kazakh Bilateral Cooperation Moving Along Right Lines: Envoy

By Ashok Dixit

New Delhi, Dec.10, 2018: Bilateral relations between Kazakhstan and India are proceeding along the right lines and going from strength to strength, said Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to India Bulat Sarsenbayev.

Kicking off Kazakhstan’s Independence Day celebrations in New Delhi this week in the presence of a distinguished gathering of politicians, diplomats, captains of Indian and Kazakh industries and others, Ambassador Sarsenbayev, in a welcome address, spoke about and detailed the main areas of cooperation between Kazakhstan and India.

He also used the occasion of a reception held at the Imperial Hotel here to outline areas of perspective cooperation between the two countries.

The festive event, held on December 4, was attended by over 400 guests, including representatives of government, parliamentary, business and public circles of India, the media, and diplomatic missions accredited to Delhi.

At the event, the Government of India was represented by Mr. A. Gitesh Sarma, Secretary (West), Ministry External Affairs.

Ambassador Sarsenbayev also described the main stages of Kazakhstan’s formation and Astana’s significant international initiatives for strengthening international peace and security. He highlighted the State of the Nation Address of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the focus of which was the “Growing welfare of Kazakh citizens: Increase in income and quality of life”.

From the cultural point of view, guests, famous Kazakh opera singer Nurzhamal Ussenbayeva and leading soloist of the Astana Opera Sundet Baigozhin, gave a delightful performance on masterpieces of world opera and Kazakh folklore. Guests were also shown a video of Astana’s impressive architecture and the beauty of Kazakhstan’s nature. The festive atmosphere of the event was complemented by the dishes of national Kazakh cuisine.

Earlier on December 1, Kazakh composer and honoured artist Tolegen Mukhamejanov, well-known Kazakh opera singer Nurzhamal Ussenbayeva and leading soloist Sundet Baigozhin performed to celebrate the Day of the First President of Kazakhstan.

The evening was organised by the Embassy of Kazakhstan within the framework of the state program "RukhaniZhangyru".

Ambassador Sarsenbayev spoke about the contribution of President Nazarbayev’s international initiatives for strengthening peace and security.

Guests enjoyed the pleasant melodies of Tolegen Mukhamejanov, known in the world under the pseudonym Jean Luna. Songs such as “II bacio” (Kiss) by Luigi Arditi, the Kazakh folk song “Alqonyr”, “Kozimninqarasy” etc. were also rendered. Nurzhamal and Sundet also performed Giuseppe Verdi's “Brindisi”. Sundet sang legendary American singer Frank Sinatra’s iconic song “My Way” and received a huge ovation.

(The writer Ashok Dixit is a senior journalist with 24 years of rich cross-editorial functional experience in covering and reporting on developments in South Asia. He had been associated with ANI as a Senior Editor for more than two decades. He can be contacted at ashok.dixit26@gmail.com