St Petersburg: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sought more intensive ties with Kazakhstan saying his ‘good friend’ steel baron Lakshmi N Mittal had personally pushed for closer economic cooperation between the two countries.
In a meeting with Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev on the margins of the G8 Summit on Monday, the prime minister said India will be happy to contribute to the economic development of Central Asian country.
Mittal, whose London-based group recently announced a $8.8 billion investment in the Indian steel industry and made a winning bid at acquiring European rival Arcelor, has a major presence in Kazakhstan.
"Lakshmi Mittal - a good friend of mine - has personally told me of the enormous benefits India and Kazakhstan can stand to derive by working together," Manmohan Singh told the president.
"If Indian companies and enterprise can contribute to the economic development of Kazakhstan, we will be happy to play that role," he said and referred to the potential in the joint development in the hydrocarbons industry.
"We can have joint development both in India and Kazakhstan," while extending an invitation to the Kazak president, who was in India last in 2002, to once again visit the country.
Nazarbayev said he was impressed by the progress made by India in the information technology sector when he was in Bangalore four years ago and added he looked forward to ties with India in the knowledge industries.
He referred to pharmaceuticals and textiles as areas offering immense potential for Indian firms to invest in his country and said small and medium firms from India would also get fiscal concessions.
He said he welcomed the Indian prime minister's suggestion for cooperation in the oil sector. "There is one problem of transportation, but this problem can also be solved," he said referring to India's interest in buying oil and gas from Kazakhstan.
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