The Prime Minister said he looked forward to continuing cooperation with Kazakhstan in civil nuclear field as his govt had embarked on a review of the safeguard procedures of India's nuclear plants.
Ahead of his talks with President Nursultan Nazarbaev, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said India was keen to cooperate with hydrocarbon-rich Kazakhstan in upstream and downstream projects, like construction of oil refineries, and increase bilateral trade which was "regrettably" much below the potential.
He said he looked forward to continuing cooperation with Kazakhstan in civil nuclear field as he noted that his government had embarked on a comprehensive review of the security and safeguard procedures of India's nuclear plants.
"I will review the status of bilateral cooperation and discuss the roadmap of our future bilateral cooperation," said Singh, who arrived here this evening, told Kazakh media prior to landing here from China.
Describing hydrocarbon sector as a strategic sector for cooperation, he said commercial negotiations on an agreement for transfer of 25 per cent stake in Satpayev oil block in Caspian Seat to ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) had proceeded smoothly and he hoped to reach an understanding during his visit here.
"We are also keen to cooperate with Kazakhstan in construction of oil refineries and other downstream and upstream projects in the energy sector," said the Prime Minister who will hold talks with Nazarbaev here tomorrow.
He pointed out that the impact of conventional sources of energy on environment and their finite quantities have stimulated India to explore alternative sources of energy as an urgent imperative.
"India, being one of the largest global consumers of energy, has also been exploring alternative sources of energy, including solar and wind power," he said.
Singh said nuclear energy was an important component of India's energy mix to meet future energy needs and "we look forward to our continuing cooperation with Kazakhstan in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy."
Referring to economic and trade ties, he said both the countries were fast growing economies but bilateral commerce currently stands at less than USD 300 million, which was much below potential and there was immense scope for its expansion.
"Regrettably, bilateral trade has not picked up to meet our expectations primarily due to lack of direct land connectivity," he said, adding the implementation of the international transport corridor project that would connect Kazakhstan with India would provide one way for faster and cheaper movement of goods between the two countries.
He talked about launch of a programme for industrial innovation by Kazakhstan and said India would be happy to participate and share its technical capabilities to mutual benefit.
"Both India and Kazakhstan could put their efforts together in implementation of joint projects," he said.
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