The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Mr Shavkat Mirziyoyev paid an official visit to India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 17-18 of 2019. The Uzbek leader held talks with Mr Modi and participated in the 9th International Investment Summit “Vibrant Gujarat”.
Uzbekistan considers India as one of its leading partners in the South-Asian region and seeks the strengthening of cooperation with New Delhi not only to achieve development in those sectors of the economy where India holds a leading position, but also to intensify dialogue within international and regional structures. New Delhi in turn, accepts Uzbekistan as a key state in Central Asia. The Indian government is interested in deepening trade, economic, investment, and transport and communications ties with Tashkent. New Delhi takes into account the national interests of Uzbekistan in resolution of regional and international issues.
Mr Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s participation in this international event confirmed the special importance of Uzbekistan for India. The view of the Uzbek delegates was that “Vibrant Gujarat” has turned from a regional investment fair into a unique international forum where officials and experts can exchange ideas, knowledge and carry out networking to jointly understand new business opportunities. The forum has become a platform for achieving numerous trade and investment agreements between the business communities of different countries.
Many Indian companies which participated in the summit “Vibrant Gujarat-2019” have studied the investment opportunities of Uzbekistan in such realms of the economy as pharmaceuticals, textile and others. This is because Tashkent offers favorable opportunities to Indian and other foreign investors.
Currently, Uzbekistan in cooperation with Indian partners is considering the construction of an advanced information technology “Technopark” in Tashkent. Moreover, from the new academic year it is planned to open branches of two leading Indian universities “Amity” and “Sharda”, specialized in ICT, in Tashkent and Andijan respectively.
In conclusion, based on the common interests Uzbek-Indian relations has been developing constructively. This is proved by Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s visit to India, which demonstrated a new positive vibrancy in Uzbek-Indian relations. In the long term, owing to the deals signed during the visit, strategic partnership between Tashkent and New Delhi will be deepened while bilateral cooperation will take a multifaceted and long-term character. This will ensure the economic well-being and prosperity of the two nations.