India, Uzbekistan Elevate Ties To Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, Set $5 Billion Trade Target By 2030

India and Uzbekistan on Sunday elevated their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and set an annual bilateral trade target of $5 billion by 2030 following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

The two countries also agreed to establish a framework for the long-term supply of uranium from Uzbekistan to India as part of cooperation in the civil nuclear energy sector.

The Modi-Mirziyoyev talks focused on expanding cooperation in trade, investment, infrastructure, critical minerals, mining, defence and security, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, health, information technology, digital public infrastructure, including UPI, and education.

Bilateral trade between the two countries currently stands at more than $1 billion.

The leaders also witnessed the exchange of several agreements covering areas including mining, culture, education, tourism and ayurveda.

Defence, Security Cooperation In Focus

“Uzbekistan is at the heart of Central Asia and is at the heart of India’s engagement in the region,” Modi said.

“A stronger India-Uzbekistan partnership will be a powerful force for peace, progress and prosperity in Central Asia.”

Outlining the agenda for future cooperation, Modi said the two countries would encourage their defence industries to explore co-development and co-production of military hardware.

On trade and investment, he said issues relating to market access, banking, payment systems and connectivity would be addressed in a structured manner.

“The close defence and security cooperation between our two countries reflects our deep mutual trust. In the future, we will promote direct linkages, co-production, and co-development between our defence industries,” Modi said.

“We believe that terrorism, extremism, and separatism pose serious challenges to the entire region,” the Prime Minister said. “Maintaining a policy of zero tolerance against these threats has been, and will continue to be, our shared resolve.”

Long-Term Uranium Supply Arrangement

India and Uzbekistan also agreed on a Letter of Intent for the restoration and conservation of the Buddhist sites of Fayaz Tepa and Kara Tepa in Uzbekistan. The ancient Buddhist monasteries in southern Uzbekistan highlight the spread of Buddhism along the Silk Road and its presence in Central Asia.

Modi arrived in Tashkent on Saturday for a two-day visit aimed at strengthening ties with Uzbekistan in areas including trade, investment, defence and clean energy.

“We are celebrating the 15th anniversary of our strategic partnership. I am delighted that, on this special occasion, we are elevating our ties to the level of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,” Modi said in his opening remarks at the bilateral talks on Sunday.

“We will move forward by setting concrete goals within this framework,” he said in Hindi.

Referring to his talks with Mirziyoyev over dinner on Saturday, Modi said, “We had a productive discussion over dinner last night and took several important decisions.”

“We will establish a Coordination Council at the level of foreign ministers to provide direction to all aspects of our cooperation through close coordination,” Modi said.

The Prime Minister said the two sides would also elevate their existing joint commission from the level of secretaries to the ministerial level.

“Both sides will jointly organise a business summit featuring business leaders from both nations.”

“We will also establish a long-term arrangement for the supply of uranium,” he said, without providing further details.

Uzbekistan Eyes Wider Economic Cooperation

Mirziyoyev said Uzbekistan was determined to strengthen ties with India across diverse sectors.

“We are aiming to advance cooperation in sectors such as energy, culture, critical minerals, pharmaceuticals, jewellery and agriculture.”

“We will prepare roadmaps for each of these sectors; specific teams from India will visit here, and our teams will travel to India, enabling us to clearly define our objectives in these fields,” Mirziyoyev added.