Kazakh president arrives in Delhi

India and Kazakhastan will give fresh impetus to their ties by signing nuclear and business pacts during the four-day visit of President Nursultan Nazarbayev who arrived here this evening.

India and Kazakhastan will give fresh impetus to their ties by signing nuclear and business pacts during the four-day visit of President Nursultan Nazarbayev who arrived here this evening.

HT Image

Nazarbayev, who is on his fourth visit to India since 1992, will be the chief guest at the Republic Day Parade which is an indicator of growing Indo-Kazakh relations.

The Kazakh leader was received by Minister of State for Industry Ashwini Kumar.

As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is indisposed, the Kazakh President will hold delegation-level talks with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

The two sides will sign agreements in the presence of President Pratibha Patil and Nazarbayev after the talks at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

During the visit, the two sides are expected to sign a civil nuclear agreement besides a few other pacts.

Kazakhstan is known to have the world's second largest reserves of uranium which India needs to ensure that its atomic plants continue running.

The nuclear deal will not just be confined to uranium supply but also include joint exploration of nuclear fuel and setting up of atomic plants.

Kazakhstan will be the fourth country after the US, France and Russia with which India will have civil nuclear cooperation.

Kazakhstan, which is the third largest producer of uranium, is planning to step up excavation to become the largest producer by 2010 by raising output to 15,500 tonnes.