From October 10 to 13, Jaishankar to visit Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Armenia

With an aim to expand bilateral ties and discuss key regional issues, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will pay a four-day visit to Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Armenia from Sunday. The leaders are highly likely to discuss the developments in Afghanistan.  

While announcing the visit, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Saturday, "The visit will provide an opportunity for reviewing the progress in our bilateral ties with the three countries as well as share views on developments in the region."   

The visit will be a continuation of India's increased engagement with countries in its "extended neighbourhood".  

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Jaishankar's first destination will be Kyrgyzstan, where he will hold talks with his counterpart apart from calling on the President of the nation, the MEA said.  

"This will be his first visit to the country as the external affairs minister," the MEA said. Some agreements are also expected to be signed during the visit.  

On October 11 and 12, Jaishankar will be in Kazakhstan to attend the 6th Ministerial meeting of the Conference of Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Nur-Sultan. Kazakhstan is the current chair of the grouping.  

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Jaishankar will hold talks with the deputy prime minister and foreign minister of Kazakhstan.  

"The external affairs minister will be visiting Armenia on October 12 and 13. This will be the first-ever visit of an external affairs minister of India to independent Armenia," the MEA said.  

The minister will have meetings with Armenian counterpart and Prime Minister.   

(With inputs from agencies)