By IANS,
New Delhi : India and Kazakhstan are set to invigorate their ties when they sign a nuclear pact and other economic agreements during the four-day visit of the energy-rich Central Asian country’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev that begins Jan 23.
“The visit will further consolidate and provide fresh impetus to the bilateral relations,” the external affairs ministry said here Wednesday while announcing his visit.
This will be the fourth visit by Nazarbayev to India since 1992.
In a gesture underscoring growing ties between the two countries, India has invited the Kazakh president to be the guest of honour at the Republic Day parade.
India and Kazakhstan will sign a slew of agreements, including a uranium deal, during the visit, official sources said.
Kazakhstan will be the fourth country to sign a civil nuclear cooperation deal with India after the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group ended three decades of nuclear apartheid against New Delhi Sep 6.
India has signed such agreements with the US, France and Russia in the last three months.
The nuclear deal will not just be confined to uranium supply, the sources said, adding it could also include joint exploration of nuclear fuel and setting up of atomic plants.
Kazakhstan has the world’s second largest uranium reserves and is the third largest producer of nuclear fuel.
Other agreements that are expected to be signed could include an intellectual property rights (IPR) pact under which Kazakhstan will accept Indian IPR on Basmati rice, Alphanso mangoes and Darjeeling tea.