External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Saturday held talks with her Kyrgyzstan counterpart Erlan Abdyldaev on deepening cooperation in a number of areas, including trade, energy and defence and security.

Swaraj reached Issyk Kul in eastern Kyrgyzstan on a two-day visit on Friday after wrapping up her tour to Kazakhstan. She was received by Abdyldaev.

“Taking steps to tap the huge potential that exists between our two countries! EAM Sushma Swaraj and Kyrgyzstan Foreign Minister Abdyldaev discussed opportunities for cooperation in fields of trade and investment, defence and security, IT, health, HRD, tourism and joint film production,” Raveesh Kumar, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, tweeted.

Taking steps to tap the huge potential that exists between our two countries! EAM @SushmaSwaraj & Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Abdyldaev discussed opportunities for cooperation in fields of trade & investment, defence & security, IT, health, HRD, tourism & joint film production. pic.twitter.com/FBIDf8lz8G

— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) August 4, 2018

“Walking together to take our relationship to new heights! EAM Sushma Swaraj and Foreign Minister of Kyrgyzstan Erlan Abdyldaev proceed to the restricted format meeting in Issyk Kul,” he had said in a tweet before the meeting.

Swaraj has interacted with Abdyldaev on a number of occasions, including on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Both the leaders reviewed the entire gamut of their bilateral ties during the meeting.

“During the meeting, the entire template of bilateral relations were discussed covering all areas of cooperation, including political and parliamentary exchanges, military and security, science and technology, economic, health and tourism,” the Indian External Affairs Ministry said in a statement following the meeting.

“The two Ministers expressed satisfaction at the progress of bilateral relations by taking forward the decisions taken during high level visits in 2015 and 2016 and discussions held on sidelines of SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) Summit in Qingdao (in China this year),” it stated.

While Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited this Central Asian nation in July 2015, then Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev visited India in December 2016.

According to the statement, Sushma Swaraj also congratulated the Kyrgyz Republic for taking over as Chair of SCO in 2018-19 and assured full cooperation in the successful conduct of meetings and the SCO Summit in 2019 to be held in Kyrgyzstan.

(With inputs from agencies)