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(as on May 2025)

Embassy of India Tashkent

Brief on India-Uzbekistan Bilateral Relations

1. India and Uzbekistan have relations that go back to ancient history. India was one of the first countries to recognize the state sovereignty of Uzbekistan after the latter’s independence. The protocol on establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Uzbekistan was signed in Tashkent on 18 March 1992. India and Uzbekistan
   declared their Strategic Partnership in 2011. Several institutionalize  mechanisms operate at both political and official levels under this partnership, to ensure regular interaction.

Leaders’ engagement

2. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi visited Uzbekistan in July 2015, June 2016 and in September 2022. President Mirziyoyev visited India in October 2018 and in January 2019. A Virtual Summit between PM    Modi and President Mirziyoyev was held in December 2020. The Presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan attended the first India-Central Asia Summit on 27 January 2022 in a virtual format. President Mirziyoyev and PM Modi met on the sidelines of the COP-28 in Dubai in December 2023. The last meeting of the leaders was held last year in October, on the sidelines of BRICS Summit in Kazan.

Ministerial engagements

3. Both countries remain in touch at the Ministerial level as well. The Foreign Ministers of the two countries have met on the sidelines of India Central-Asia Dialogue, SCO meetings etc. Foreign Ministers’ last meetings were on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in July 2024 in Astana and thereafter on the sidelines of UN Summit of the Future in New York in September 2024. Defence Ministers, Speakers of Parliament, Agriculture Ministers have also met their counterparts.
4. The Finance Minister participated in the 9th Annual Meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Uzbekistan in September 2024. During her visit, she held meetings with President Mirziyoyev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, Mr. Jamshid Khodjayev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, Mr. Djamshid Kuchkarov, and Minister of Investments, Industry and Trade, Mr. Laziz Kudratov. She also took part in the Uzbekistan-India Business Forum, during which  Bilateral Investment Treaty was signed on the sidelines.
5. In November 2024, A delegation led by Hon’ble Minister of Tourism of Goa, Shri Rohan Khaunte participated in the Tashkent International Tourism Fair. He also met Minister of Tourism of Government of Uzbekistan to explore introduction of Hassle-Free Travel and Collaborative Tourism Activities between Goa & Uzbekistan and
   fostering Regenerative Tourism Concepts for the Growth of our Tourism based Economies.
6. A delegation led by Hon’ble Speaker (HS) of Lok Sabha Sh. Om Birla participated in the 150th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) held in Tashkent in April 2025. During the visit, HS addressed the IPU Governing Council and Assembly, called on President Mirziyoyev and held bilateral meetings with parliamentary leaders
   from Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Israel, and Uzbekistan. He also met withUzbekistan Senate Chairperson Tanzila Narbayeva and Legislative Chamber Speaker Nuriddin Ismoilov, reaffirming India’s commitment to enhancing parliamentary ties. The IPU Governing Council endorsed the candidature of Dr. Sanjay Jaiswal, MP, to the IPU Committee on Health. The visit also featured interactions with Indian students at Samarkand State Medical University and Indian community in Tashkent, further strengthening educational and cultural ties. Ms. Aprajita Sarangi, Member of Parliament and Vice President of the Asia Pacific region in the IPU Executive Committee, was endorsed for another one-year term. The Asia Pacific Group also endorsed four Indian parliamentarians for various IPU bodies: Shri Anurag Singh Thakur for the Bureau of the Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights, Ms. Heena Gavit for the Bureau of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians, Ms. Himadri Singh for the Board of the Forum of Young Parliamentarians, and Ms. Kamaljeet Sehrawat for the Committee to Promote Respect for International Humanitarian Law

Inter-Governmental Commission

7. The 13th meeting of the Uzbek-India Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation was held in New Delhi on 28 July 2022. The meeting was co-chaired by Minister of Commerce and Industry of India Shri Piyush Goyal and Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade of
   Uzbekistan Mr. Jamshid Khodjaev. An agreement was also reached to hold a meeting of India-Central Asia Ministers of Transport in order to develop mechanisms for developing logistics infrastructure, a regional network of multimodal transport corridors, and increasing direct and transit cargo transportation as part of the North-South initiative.

Foreign Office Consultations (FoC)

8. The then Secretary (West) Shri Sanjay Verma visited Uzbekistan on 8- 9 August 2023 and held 16th Foreign Office Consultations with his counterpart Deputy Foreign Minister Bakhrom Aloyev. Secretary (West) also called on Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov. Earlier, Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Furkat Sidikov led the Uzbek delegation to the bilateral Foreign Office Consultations held in New Delhi on 11 May 2022.

Bilateral Trade and Investments

9. India is among top 10 trade partners of Uzbekistan with bilateral trade USD 980.4 million (as per Uzbek statistics-2024) well below potential. The major items of India’s exports are pharmaceutical products, mechanical equipment, vehicle parts, services, frozen buffalo meat, optical instruments and equipment and mobile phones. India’s import from Uzbekistan consists largely of fruit and vegetable products, services, fertilizers, juice products and extracts, and lubricants.

As per figures released by the Uzbek Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, Uzbekistan’s bilateral trade with India during the last Five years is:

10. Total Indian investments in Uzbekistan amount to US$ 350 million (approx). Indian investments by Indian companies include in pharmaceuticals, healthcare, education and residential building. 317 enterprises have opened in Uzbekistan with Indian Capital Participation (by November 2024). There are four Indian Universities in Uzbekistan – Amity University in Tashkent, Sharda University in Andijan, Sambhram University in Jizzakh and Acharya University in Bukhara.

Development Partnership:

11.  India has carried out several projects under HICDP including setting up of an Allergological center in Tashkent (INR 10,25,95,409), an IT lab at the Academy of Armed
    Forces of Uzbekistan (INR 8,48,60,376) and provisioning of computers for 125 ICT centers in schools in Syrdarya region (INR 6,74,77,580). The Embassy is also looking to renovate ANFA International Cricket stadium in Tashkent and continue development partnership projects in Karakalpakstan in healthcare and Solar Power projects to support agriculture in Kashkadarya region.

Defence & Security Cooperation

12. India has longstanding and wide-ranging cooperation with Uzbekistan in the field of defence. A Joint Working Group on defence was established in 2019 and the fourth JWG meeting was held in Uzbekistan in April 2024. India & Uzbekistan regularly participate in joint military exercises “DUSTLIK”, with the fifth edition held in April
    2024 and attended by COAS General Manoj Pande during his visit to Uzbekistan. The sixth edition of exercise DUSTLIK is scheduled to be conducted in India in April/May 2025. There has been considerable interaction between Defence Industries of both nations with recentparticipation of a delegation from the Defence Industry Agency of Uzbekistan to Aero India 2025.

Education

13. Mission has set up India Study Centres under “Aid to Uzbekistan” in 15 universities of Uzbekistan and activated two short term ‘Chair’ by ICCR in Samarkand State University (Economics) and Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies (Hindi). Some Indian Study Centres also have IT instruments installed in them and equipped with books, musical instruments, Indian traditional dresses and artefacts. In January 2023, four Uzbek Hindi scholars attended World Hind Conference in Nadi (Fiji). Prof. Nilufar Khodjaeva of Tashkent State University for Oriental Studies was awarded Hindi Samman Award by External Affairs Minister.
14. There is huge potential in education sector. Four Indian Universities have already set up their campuses in Uzbekistan. A proposal to set up IIT is under consideration. In 2023-24, more than 100 candidates have been selected from Uzbekistan under ITEC programmes.

Cultural Cooperation

15. There is close affinity between the cultures of the two countries. Indian films, actors and songs are extremely popular in Uzbekistan since the era of the Raj Kapoor. A 5-day Indian Cinema Week from 17 to 21 December 2024 was organized to commemorate the 100th birth anniversary of Raj Kapoor and a 4-day Film Festival was
    organized on the theme ‘Sashakt Nari – Celebrating Womanhood’ from March 13-16, 2025 showcasing women-centric films from Hindi and regional cinema.
16. The Lal Bahadur Shastri Centre for Indian Culture (LBSCIC) had approximately 384 yoga students and 250 Kathak students in 2024 attending classes. Yoga is immensely popular with more than 2000 participants attending International Yoga Day. Yoga Federation of Uzbekistan has an Indian Yoga Teacher and maintains close
    relationship with Indian Embassy. Two batches of Yoga Volunteers from Yoga Federation of Uzbekistan (YFU) have been certified by Ministry of Ayush to teach Yoga.

Diaspora & people-to-people ties

17. The size of the Indian community in Uzbekistan is estimated to be 17,000, including students.

Multilateral engagement

18. India and Uzbekistan cooperate closely at several multilateral platforms such as the UN, G20, BRICS & SCO. In St. Petersburg, on the sidelines of Xth BRICS Parliamentary Forum in July 2024, Senate Chairperson Tanzila Narbaeva held talks with Shri Om Birla, Speaker of Lok Sabha. Both sides also interact under the India-Central Asia framework in India-Central Asia Summit, India-Central Asia Dialogue at EAM level, Joint Working Group on Afghanistan and Central Asia Business Council. There is also India-Central Asia National Security Advisors’ meeting. Uzbekistan has also been actively participating in Voice of Global South Summit (VOGSS). In August 2024, in the third VOGSS, Uzbekistan participated in two Ministerial sessions on Trade (represented by H. E. Mr Gulamov Shokhrukh, Acting Deputy Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade) and Environment (represented by H. E. Mr. Jusipbek Kazbekov, Dy. Minister of Ecology, Environmental Protection). A delegation led by Hon’ble Speaker (HS) of Lok Sabha Sh. Om Birla participated in the 150th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) held in Tashkent in April 2025.

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