This article describes the cultural, educational and people-to-people links between India and Kazakhstan, and the Indian community living in Kazakhstan. It is based on the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) bilateral brief of July 2026, and community, tourism and scholarship figures are given as of that brief.

The brief describes relations between India and Kazakhstan as ancient and historical, going back more than 2000 years. It refers to a constant exchange of goods and, more importantly, of ideas and cultural influences. It gives two examples: the spread of Buddhism from India to Central Asia, and of Sufi ideas from Central Asia to India.

Culture and yoga

According to the MEA brief of July 2026, India and Kazakhstan enjoy close cultural relations, which the brief says are reflected in the popularity of yoga, Indian films, dance and music in Kazakhstan. The Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre in Astana runs cultural activities, including yoga, dance and music classes.

In 2025, 34 celebrations of the International Day of Yoga were held across 21 cities of Kazakhstan, engaging a total of 8500 participants.

Kazakhstan's Filarmonia Chamber Choir, of more than 80 Kazakh musicians, came to New Delhi for the 33rd edition of the Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival. The brief records that MOS Meenakashi Lekhi inaugurated Bharat Symphony on 5 January 2024.

Culture, tourism and sports ministers

The brief records that Shri G. Kishan Reddy, Minister of Culture, Tourism and Development of North Eastern Region, hosted the first India-Central Asia Culture Ministers' Meeting by video conference on 03 April. Kazakhstan's Minister of Culture and Sports Askhat Oralov took part.

During India's SCO presidency, Askhat Oralov also took part in the 20th Session of the Culture Ministers' Meeting of SCO Member States, held virtually on 03 April 2023. Vice-Minister of Culture and Sports Yerzhan Malikovich Yerkinbayev led Kazakh delegations to the Meeting of SCO Ministers of Physical Culture and Sports in New Delhi on 15 March 2023, and to the Meeting of SCO Heads of Tourism Administrations in Kashi on 17-18 March 2023.

Scholarships and education

India provides scholarships in various disciplines to students from Kazakhstan under the ICCR Scholarship programmes. The brief states that 10 slots are allocated to Kazakhstan under the General Scholarship Scheme of ICCR. The courses offered include:

  • Agriculture, Food and Fertilizers
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Banking, Finance, Accounts and Audit
  • Cyber Technologies
  • Education
  • Engineering and Technology
  • Hindi Language
  • Environmental and Climatic Changes
  • Government Function
  • Health and Yoga
  • Human Resource Development and Planning

Youth exchanges

A 20 member delegation from Kazakhstan took part in the Youth Delegation Program organised by the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs under the aegis of the India-Central Asia Summit, from 17-23 November 2022.

The brief gives tourism figures for 2024. In that year, 23000 Kazakh tourists visited India and 146000 Indian tourists visited Kazakhstan. The brief states that Indian tourist arrivals in Kazakhstan in 2025 were expected to cross 2,00,000.

Tourism promotion has featured in trade events. Tourism ministries of Kerala and Rajasthan, delegates from the Ministry of Tourism and businesses from the Indian tourism sector attended the PATA Travel Mart 2019 in Astana on 18-20 September 2019 to promote tourism in India. The Embassy of India, Astana has since held tourism events, with the attendance figures the brief gives:

  • India-Kazakhstan Tourism Business Forum, Almaty, June 23, 2025: 160
  • Promotion of wellness tourism during the celebration of Onam, Almaty, September 21, 2025: 100
  • Participation of the Government of Goa in the Kazakhstan International Tourism Festival 2026, Almaty: 500 plus

The Indian community

As of the July 2026 brief, the Indian community in Kazakhstan numbers about 11,000. Of these, about 10,000 are Indian students, and the rest work in various professional fields.

The brief records that several special evacuation flights operated by Air India under the VBM, together with charter flights, evacuated 3,745 Indian nationals from Kazakhstan to India. Those evacuated included medical students, tourists, professionals and workers.