Indian Army Chief General M M Naravane on Thursday held a telephonic interaction with his counterpart in Kazakhstan Major General Talgat Mamyrtaevich Koibakov to discuss issues of bilateral defence cooperation, according to an official statement. Kazakhstan shares land border of around 1,780 km with China. However, unlike India, Kazakhstan does not have any active border dispute with China.

It has been more than a year since the military standoff between the armies of India and China erupted in eastern Ladakh on May 5, 2020, during which there were fatalities on both sides for the first time in 45 years.

India and China have made limited progress in achieving disengagement in the Pangong lake area while negotiations for similar steps at other friction points continue. Indian Army said on Twitter on Thursday, "General MM Naravane, COAS (Chief of Army Staff), had telephonic interaction with Major General Talgat Mamyrtaevich Koibakov, Commander-in-Chief, Land Forces of the Armed Forces, Republic of #Kazakhstan and discussed issues of bilateral defence cooperation." .

Agencies