New Delhi, Dec 20 (IANS): India and Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday pledged to work together to prevent youths from falling prey to the common challenges of terrorism and extremism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

Modi was addressing a joint media conference with visiting Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev, who arrived in India on Sunday, leading a high-level delegation comprising of ministers, officials and business leaders.

Modi and Atambayev held talks at the Hyderabad House as the two countries signed a number of agreements to enhance their defence and economic ties.

"We discussed how we could work together to secure our youth and society from common challenges of terrorism, extremism and radicalism," Modi said.

"We agreed on the need to overcome these challenges for the common benefit" of the two countries, Modi said.

Modi described Kyrgyzstan "a valuable partner in our common pursuit of making Central Asia a region of sustainable peace, stability and prosperity".

The Prime Minister said the two countries would encourage better engagement in healthcare, tourism, IT and agriculture, mining and energy and build on bilateral cooperation, including "capacity building and training".