India, Kyrgyzstan ink 4 pacts during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit

India and Kyrgyzstan have signed 4 pacts/ agreements to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two nations. These agreements were inked during the two-day visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Kyrgystan as part of his official visit to 5 Central Asian countries and Russia. Signed agreements are Agreement on Defence Cooperation: It was signed to deepen cooperation between both countries in matters relating to security, defence, military education and training. It also covers provisions to conduct of joint military exercises, exchange of military instructors, exchange of experience and information and observers etc. MoU and Cooperation in the field of Elections: It was signed to deepen cooperation in matters relating to legislation on elections and referendums. It also covered rights of elections process stakeholders, modern systems and technologies as well as other issues of election administration. MoU on cooperation in the sphere of Standards: Seeks to strengthen and enhance technical cooperation in the fields of conformity assessment, standardization and sharing of expertise on mutual trade. It also aims at exchanging necessary information and expertise in this regard between the two parties. Signatory parties are Ministry of Economy of Kyrgyzstan and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). Agreement on Cooperation in Culture: To deepen cultural cooperation between both countries in areas such as preservation of cultural heritage, theatre, youth festivals and organisation of folk arts. It also seeks to boost cooperation in of publishing and translation of literature, culture, sports and physical exchange of archival materials, geography, history etc. Besides signing these agreements, both nations also released Indo- Kyrgyz Joint Statements to increase regional cooperation and connectivity in the various fields including Political cooperation, regional and global level cooperation, Defence cooperation, Economic cooperation, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, Cultural and humanitarian cooperation.