On Tuesday March 30, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon received Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who was in Dushanbe to participate in the 9th Ministerial Meeting of the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process. 

According to the Tajik president’s official website, the two sides discussed state and prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and India.

In the curse of the talks, Tajik leader noted that India is one of key countries in the Asian region and Tajikistan attaches significance to further expansion of cooperation with India.

The two sides reportedly noted the need to intensify activities of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission for Trade and Economic Cooperation, improve investment climate and attract direct investment to ensure sustainable economic development, implement infrastructure, industry and commerce development projects.      

They also outlined sectors like energy, agriculture, transportation and medicine as areas, which could drive the bilateral trade between Tajikistan and India.  

The two sides reportedly expressed satisfaction with cooperation between Tajikistan and India within the frameworks of the Indian technical and Economic Program (ITEC), the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), and in the field of medicine, including the process of the delivery of 192,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Tajikistan through COVAX mechanism.

Meanwhile Indian media reports say Jaishankar also conveyed the greetings of President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to President Rahmon. 

On the sidelines of the Heart of Asia conference in Dushanbe, Jaishankar also met his Kazakh counterpart Mukhtar Tileuberdi and reviewed bilateral and international cooperation.