This article covers the diplomatic relationship between India and Kazakhstan: how relations were established, the high-level visits in both directions, the dialogue mechanisms the two governments use and their cooperation in regional and multilateral bodies. It is based on the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) bilateral brief of July 2026, and office holders are named as the brief names them, with the dates it gives.

Establishment of relations

According to the MEA brief of July 2026, India was one of the first countries to recognise the independence of Kazakhstan. Diplomatic relations were established on 22 February 1992, and relations were later raised to a Strategic Partnership, as described below.

Strategic Partnership

First President Nursultan Nazarbayev visited India in February 1992, and again in 1993 (a transit visit), 1996, 2002 and 2009. He was the Chief Guest at the Republic Day parade in New Delhi on 26 January 2009, and during that visit bilateral relations were enhanced to a Strategic Partnership.

During Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's bilateral visit to Astana, the two sides issued a Joint Statement named 'Tej Kadam' on 08 July 2015. The brief quotes it as recording that "President Nazarbayev reiterated Kazakhstan's full support for India's permanent membership in an expanded UNSC."

Visits from India

The brief lists these visits by Prime Ministers of India to Kazakhstan:

  • Shri Jawahar Lal Nehru, 1955 (Almaty)
  • Shri P.V Narsimha Rao, 1993
  • Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, June 2002
  • Dr. Manmohan Singh, 15-16 April 2011
  • Shri Narendra Modi, 07-08 July 2015 (bilateral visit)
  • Shri Narendra Modi, 08-09 June 2017 (SCO Summit)

Prime Minister Modi's 2017 visit was for the 17th SCO Summit in Astana, at which India was admitted as a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Vice Presidents Dr. S. Radhakrishnan (1956), Shri K. R. Narayanan (1996) and Shri Hamid Ansari (2008) also visited Kazakhstan.

Ministerial and other engagements listed in the brief include a bilateral visit by EAM Smt. Sushma Swaraj on 2-3 August 2018, and a visit by Shri Harivansh Narayan Singh, Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, for the 4th Meeting of Eurasian Countries' Parliament on 23-24 September 2019. Shri V. Muraleedharan, MoS for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs, attended the Astana Club Meeting on 11-12 November 2019, and Smt. Meenakashi Lekhi made a bilateral visit on 12-14 June 2022.

EAM Dr. S. Jaishankar visited Kazakhstan on 11-12 October 2021 for the 6th Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA). He called on President Tokayev, conveyed greetings from PM Modi and his invitation to visit India in 2022, and conveyed India's proposal on the mutual recognition of Covid vaccination certificates. MoS Meenakashi Lekhi attended the 6th CICA Summit in Astana on 13 October 2022 as the Prime Minister's Special Envoy. The brief also lists a visit by EAM on 3-4 July 2024 for the SCO Council of Heads of State Summit.

Other visits recorded in the brief include those of Chief Election Commissioner Shri Rajiv Kumar on 22-24 June 2024, who met Nurlan Abdirov, Chairman of the Central Election Commission of Kazakhstan, and of Chief Justice of India Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud on 19-20 May 2024, who met Mr. Aslambek Mergaliev, Chairman of the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan. Secretary (ER) Shri Dammu Ravi attended the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Astana on 22 May 2024.

Visits from Kazakhstan

Besides the visits by First President Nazarbayev described above, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took part in the first India-Central Asia Summit, held in virtual format and hosted by India on 27 January 2022. The brief notes that the Summit coincided with the 30th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Central Asian countries.

Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Askar Zhumagaliyev visited India on 20-22 September 2018 and met Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communications and Information Technology. Prime Minister Askar Mamin led the Kazakh delegation to the 19th Summit of the SCO Council of Heads of Government on 30 November 2020, held by video conference, hosted by India and chaired by Vice President Shri Venkaiah Naidu.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mukhtar Tileuberdi visited New Delhi in December 2021 for the 3rd meeting of the India-Central Asia Dialogue, and the two sides held a bilateral meeting on 19 December 2021. EAM had met him earlier on the sidelines of UNGA in New York on 24 September 2019, the SCO Meeting of Foreign Ministers in Moscow on 10 September 2020, the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process conference in Dushanbe on 30 March 2021 and a connectivity conference in Tashkent on 16 July 2021. They met again on 29 July 2022 at the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers in Tashkent.

Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Foreign Affairs Murat Nurtleu held a bilateral meeting with EAM Dr Jaishankar on 05 May 2023, on the sidelines of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Goa. On 17 November 2023 he took part in a virtual ministerial panel of the 2nd Summit "The Voice of the Global South". The Chairman of the Central Election Commission of Kazakhstan, Mr. Nurlan Abdirov, visited India in January 2025 and on 21-23 January 2026 for international conferences organised by the Election Commission of India.

In February 2026, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan H.E. Mr. Olzhas Bektenov visited India for the AI Impact Summit and held talks with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. The brief dates the visit to 19-20 February 2026, while an MEA press release records the meeting with Prime Minister Modi in New Delhi on 18 February 2026. Mr. Zhaslan Madiyev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Development and AI, was part of the delegation. On 13 September 2026, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in New Delhi on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit.

Dialogue mechanisms

Foreign Office Consultations are held at the level of Deputy Foreign Ministers and Secretary (West) to discuss bilateral, regional and international issues. The 7th round was held in November 2020 through digital video conference, led by Shri Vikas Swarup and Mr Shakhrat Nuryshev, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. The 8th round took place in New Delhi on 13 February 2023, led by Secretary (West) Shri Sanjay Verma and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Kanat Tumysh.

Kazakhstan is part of the India-Central Asia Dialogue (ICAD). The first ICAD meeting was held in Samarkand on 12-13 January 2019, and the second on 28 October 2020 by video conference, with EAM Dr. S Jaishankar and Minister for Foreign Affairs Mukhtar Tileuberdi leading the two sides. The third ICAD was held in New Delhi on 18-20 December 2021 and the fourth in New Delhi in June 2025, when DPM and FM H.E Murat Nurtleu led the Kazakh delegation.

Multilateral cooperation

The brief states that India and Kazakhstan cooperate in CICA, the SCO and UN organisations, and that India has been a consistent supporter of Kazakhstan's CICA initiative. Kazakhstan supports India's permanent membership in an expanded UN Security Council and supported India's non-permanent membership in 2021-22. India supported Kazakhstan's candidature for non-permanent membership in 2017-18.

India assumed the rotating presidency of the SCO in September 2022, culminating in the virtual SCO Council of Heads of State Summit on 4 July 2023, chaired by PM Modi, in which President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev participated. Kazakh participation in other meetings during the Indian presidency included:

  • Meeting of the Chairmen of the Supreme Courts of the SCO Member States, Delhi, 10-12 March 2023, with a delegation led by Mergaliev Aslambek Amangeldievich
  • SCO Transport Ministers' Meeting, 28 April 2023, attended by Mr Ali Altay, Deputy Chairman of the Transport Committee
  • SCO meetings of Health, Agriculture, ICT, and Science and Technology Ministers, held online in May 2023

EAM also took part in the 20th meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government, chaired by Kazakh Prime Minister Askar Mamin by videoconference on 25 November 2021.