In his first bilateral ‘Virtual Summit’ with any Central Asian leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold summit-level dialogue with President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev on Friday.
“The leaders will discuss the entire spectrum of the bilateral relationship, including strengthening of India-Uzbekistan cooperation in the post-COVID world, “said a press release from the Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday.
Several MoUs/Agreements in the field of development partnership, renewable energy, capacity building, are expected to be signed during the Summit.
India considers Central Asia as its ‘extended neighbourhood’ which makes the outreach to Uzbekistan an important aspect of its Central Asian diplomacy.
On the bilateral front, there has been a significant intensification in ties with Uzbekistan in recent years, due to the high-level visits from both sides. Bilateral relations now encompass a wider canvas, including political and strategic issues, defense and security, trade and investment, energy, agriculture, S&T, education, and people-to-people ties.
India and Uzbekistan declared their Strategic Partnership in 2011. The dynamism to this partnership was imparted by the visit of PM Modi in July 2015 when his back-to-back visit to all the five Central Asian countries demonstrated a new determination on India’s part to reach out to all Central Asian countries.
Four project proposals received from the Uzbek side in sectors of road, sewerage, and IT amounting to USD 448 million have already been approved.
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s first visit to India in October 2018 and his visit to Gandhinagar to participate in the Vibrant Gujarat Summit in January 2019 on the personal invitation of the Prime Minister demonstrated the keenness on the part of the leaders of both the countries to strengthen the strategic partnership.
It was during this visit that India and Uzbekistan concluded the agreement on the long-term purchase of uranium in January last year.
India- Uzbekistan bilateral trade hovers below USD 250 million which both the side consider way below the potential. Both leaders have therefore set a trade target of USD 1 billion.
Indian companies have already started looking positively at Uzbekistan with investments of about USD 61 million in recent years, particularly in the pharmaceutical sector.Defense and security cooperation has also become an important area of collaboration.
The visit of Raksha Mantri and of the Uzbek Interior Minister in November 2019 put defense and security cooperation on a firm pedestal.
The first joint military exercise in counter-terrorism was held during the visit of Raksha Mantri to Uzbekistan. Training and Capacity-building of Uzbek defence forces is being carried out under our ITEC programme.
Cooperation between the two countries is also taking place at the level of states and regions of Uzbekistan. During the visit of Gujarat Chief Minister to Uzbekistan (Andijan region in particular) in October 2019 and a follow-up visit by the Uzbek side in November 2019, a total of 23 agreements were signed and 59 projects worth USD 992 million were identified in various fields including agriculture, animal husbandry, food processing, gems and jewellery, automotive sector, textiles, pharma, IT and others.
