India, Uzbekistan upgrade ties to ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi held official talks with Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Tashkent on August 30. 

• The two leaders held wide-ranging discussions on the entire gamut of the bilateral strategic partnership.

• India and Uzbekistan decided to elevate their ties to a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’.

• They also agreed to set a bilateral trade target of $5 billion by 2030 and in this regard called for hosting a Business Summit to deepen economic and investment ties. 

• The current volume of bilateral trade between the two nations is over $1 billion.

• The two sides inked agreements for boosting engagement in several key sectors.

Key outcomes of the meeting:

1) Letter of Intent between the Ministry of External Affairs of India and the Cultural Heritage Agency of Uzbekistan for the conservation and restoration of ancient buddhist sites of Fayaz Tepa and KaraTepa located in Termez, Uzbekistan.

2) MoU on cooperation in the field of archival work between the National Archives under the Ministry of Culture of India and the Agency “Uzarchive” under the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

3) MoU on cooperation in the field of ayurveda and other traditional systems of medicine.

4) MoU on cooperation in the fields of geology and mineral resources.

5) MoU for an economic and financial dialogue.

6) Agreement on cooperation in the field of environmental protection.

7) MoU on cooperation in the field of higher education and scientific research.

8) Grant of $1 million for afforestation in the Aral Sea region.

9) ICCR Sanskrit Chair at Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies.

10) Commercial agreement between NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) with National Interbank Processing Centre JSC (NIPC), Uzbekistan to enable UPI apps of India to scan national QR-UZQR for making merchant payments in Uzbekistan.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)