Bishkek, Tehran to expand regional Cooperation

Kyrgyzstan’s President Kurmanbek Bakiyev held talks with Iranian Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Manouchehr Morradi recently in Bishkek, reiterating the importance of his country’s relations with Iran. He also underlined the need for the further bolstering of bilateral ties. He is pleased with the current trend of Iran-Kyrgyzstan relations. There exists friendly ties between our countries and all conditions are ready for promoting the level of these relations, Bakiyev said, underlining his support for the continued and logical expansion of relations between the two states. For his part, the Iranian envoy stressed that Tehran attaches special importance to its mutual ties with Bishkek. I will do my best to utilize the existing capacities to expand political, economic and cultural ties and reinvigorate the two countries’ partnership and participation in strengthening peace and stability in the region, Morradi said. He also conveyed President Ahmadinejad’s invitation to his Kyrgyz counterpart to visit Tehran, and expressed the hope that the visit would take place in the near future. Iranian Ambassador also had talks with Kyrgyz Minister of Internal Affairs Moldomusa Kongantiev in Bishkek. Morradi stressed the need for enhanced cooperation between Iran and Kyrgyzstan in establishing peace and security in the region, reminding that the two states are located in the same sensitive region. Morradi described instability in Afghanistan, drug trafficking and extremism as common threats faced by both Tehran and Bishkek. The Iranian envoy also underlined the necessity for Iran and the Central Asian state to boost cooperation and consultations over political and security issues within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). He also mentioned about the problems faced by faced by the Iranian expatriates in Kyrgyzstan. In this regard, he called on Bishkek to adopt strong measures to provide security for the Iranian nationals in Kyrgyzstan. Kongantiev, in return, appointed one of his colleagues as the liaison officer with the Iranian embassy in Bishkek to resolve the problems existing for the Iranian expatriates.