Article Posted on : - Jul 04, 2011

Indian Defence Minister A K Antony

NEW DELHI (PTI): Seeking to enhance military and trade ties with Central Asian republics, Defence Minister A K Antony will leave for Kyrgyzstan on a two-day visit starting Monday during which he will hold talks with top leadership there.

The Minister will inaugurate a jointly established Mountain Biomedical Research Centre for pursuing studies on high altitude acclimatization, including amelioration of high altitude maladies.

The centre has been jointly established by the DRDO and a Kyrgyz institute.

"The visit aims at giving further boost to bilateral ties of India with the Central Asian republics in a wide range of areas and the Defence Minister will also hold discussions to enhance military ties between the two countries," Defence Ministry officials said here.

Apart from holding discussions with his Kyrghyz counterpart Abibilla Kudayberdiev, Antony will also hold talks with the top Kyrghyz leadership including President Roza Otunbayeva, Foreign Minister Kazakbayev Ruslan Aytbaevich and Health Minister Sabyrbek Jumabekov, they said.

The delegation includes DRDO Chief V K Saraswat, Special Secretary RK Mathur, Secretary (Defence Finance) Vijay Lakshmi Gupta and Chief Controller of Research and Development William Selvamurthy.