Onboard special aircraft, April 14 (ANI): Stating that India enjoyed excellent bilateral and cultural relations with Tajikistan, Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari on Sunday said the issue of terrorism is a matter of deep concern to both countries.
"India enjoys excellent relations with Tajikistan politically, but commercial ties are modest. An important area of concern for both the countries, however, is terrorism," Ansari said.
"As India has been a victim of cross-border terrorism, so has been Tajikistan, which has also suffered in a similar manner. Terrorism emanating from Afghanistan remains a matter of crucial concern and a live issue. Both countries have a Joint Working Group on Terrorism. Tajikistan is very sensitive on this issue and we are cooperating with them on ways to tackle this menace," he added.
The vice-president further said that India is watching the evolving developments in Afghanistan with keenness, especially in the wake of the United States and its NATO allies announcing formal and firm plans to withdraw all foreign troops from Afghan soil by the end of 2014.
" India, like other countries, is also keenly watching (developments in Afghanistan) it. Like India, Tajikistan has also agreed that without a stable Afghanistan, the entire region cannot and will not be stable," Ansari said.
Responding to a question on how India planned to expand commercial ties with Tajikistan, Ansari said: "The real problem is access to the landlocked natural resource rich region."
Ansari is the first Indian vice president to visit Tajikistan.
The four-day visit is being seen as significant, as strategically located Tajikistan shares borders with Afghanistan, China and Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, and a narrow sliver of land separates it from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Soon after his arrival in Tajik capital Dushanbe, Ansari and his wife Salma Anasari were received by the Deputy Prime Minister of Tajikistan Davlatov Matlubkhon , India's Ambassador to Tajikistan and other officers of the Indian diplomatic mission. He was given a ceremonial welcome and a guard of honour.
Minister of State for Agriculture Tariq Anwar and four members of Parliament - M.S. Gill, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Chandan Mitra and G.N. Ratan Puri are accompanying the vice president during his four-day visit.
Soon after his arrival, the vice-president visited the National Museum of Antiquities.
He described it as an institution containing very unique art work.
"It shows that we are part of one cultural region, where people have been moving back and forth. A very extra ordinary contribution to the history I have gone through," Ansari said.
During his stay, Ansari will hold discussions with the President Emomali Rahmon who has been a regular visitor to India.
The Tajik President's last visit, his fifth to India, was in September 2012. It coincided with the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
India had played a key role in developing the Ayni airbase and continues to cooperate with Tajik authorities in maintaining it.
President Rahmon, who has been at the helm of affairs in hydrocarbon and hydroelectric-rich Tajikistan, had then held wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Ansari will also visit the Qasr-e -Millat (Palace of Nations) and the Ismoili Somani Square.
Ansari's visit to Tajikistan is part of high-level contacts which the two countries have maintained over the past two decades. Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had visited Tajikistan in 2003 and former president Pratibha Devisingh Patil visited the country in 2009.
India is pursuing a Connect Central Asia policy, which includes a proactive multi-pronged diplomatic thrust to expand ties with the energy-rich Central Asian nations - Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.
Tajikistan with whom India has strategic ties also holds a crucial place for India, owing to its geo-political position, as it shares borders with China and Afghanistan. The nearest Tajik point is only 16 km from Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK). The two countries also have old and traditional linguistic and cultural ties.
The low level of trade between India and Tajikistan, which stood at 27 million dollars last year, remains an area of concern for both nations. (ANI)
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