The Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee left for Kazakhstan to attend the Conference for Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) summit in Almaty, here today. Prior to his departure, the Prime Minister made the following statement:

~I leave today on an official visit to Kazakhstan.

Our relations with Kazakhstan are excellent and my visit will provide another opportunity to strengthen the bilateral political dialogue and intensify our economic cooperation.

In Almaty, I will also attend the CICA summit. This is an important initiative of the President of Kazakhstan seeking to establish a framework for mutual understanding and goodwill among the peoples of Asia.

Kazakhstan shares our perspectives on the threat to peace from international terrorism. The CICA summit will also adopt a declaration condemning terrorism. I will be discussing with other leaders, including President Putin of Russia and President Jiang Zemin of China, our views on the cross-border terrorism, which has created the present tension in our region.

In recent days, we have seen some statements by General Musharraf. I have also spoken with President Bush and Prime Minister Blair in these days. If we see the result on the ground of General Musharraf’s statements, we shall certainly give it our serious consideration~.