Ashkabat (Turkmenistan) (PTI): Vice-President Hamid Ansari on Sunday left for Kazakhstan after completing his three-day visit to Turkmenistan during which both sides agreed to step up cooperation in the vital oil and and natural gas sector.

Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed and Tukmenistan Deputy Prime Minister for Oil and Gas Tachberdy Tagiev inked an MoU here on Saturday that would facilitate contacts between Indian companies and those of this hydrocarbon-rich country.

The MoU which is expected to give a boost to Indo-Turkmen ties was the highlight of the visit of Ansari to the country which is among the top ten countries with gas reserves.

During his four-day stay in Kazakhstan Ansari will hold talks with President Nursultan Nazarbayev and some other leaders to further improve bilateral ties between the two countries.

Ansari, 74, arrived in the Turkmenistan capital on Friday on the first leg of his two-nation week-long tour.