New Delhi, Sep 24 (IANS) Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Rudrendra Tandon, attended Uzbekistan’s National Day reception in New Delhi as the Chief Guest, reaffirming India’s resolve to strengthen the India-Uzbekistan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership further, the MEA said on Thursday.
“Secretary (East) Shri Rudrendra Tandon attended the National Day reception of Uzbekistan in New Delhi as the Chief Guest. Recalling our historical and cultural ties, he highlighted the progress in India-Uzbekistan relations across diverse sectors and reaffirmed the resolve to enhance the India-Uzbekistan Comprehensive Strategic Partnership further,” the MEA stated on X.
India and Uzbekistan elevated their bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership on August 30, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev focusing on cooperation in critical minerals, uranium supplies, and economic security during their talks in Tashkent.
As part of his state visit to Uzbekistan, PM Modi held wide-ranging discussions with President Mirziyoyev at the Kuksaroy Presidential Palace covering trade and investment, critical minerals, defence and security, innovation and start-ups, digital public infrastructure and UPI, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, agriculture, education, tourism, space and people-to-people ties.
PM Modi welcomed progress toward a long-term arrangement for the supply of uranium from Uzbekistan to India and underlined the importance of strengthening bilateral cooperation in critical minerals.
The two leaders also set an ambitious target of USD 5 billion in bilateral trade by 2030 and called for a business summit to further expand economic and investment ties.
They agreed to establish a Foreign Ministers-led mechanism to take forward the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and decided to raise the existing Inter-Governmental Commission to the ministerial level.
The talks also highlighted the long-standing civilisational and people-to-people connections between India and Uzbekistan. PM Modi appreciated the growing popularity of Yoga in Uzbekistan and earlier attended a Yoga session organised by the Yoga Federation of Uzbekistan.
Marking the 60th anniversary of the passing of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, PM Modi announced the Lal Bahadur Shastri Scholarship for Hindi language for Uzbek students. India also announced a USD 1 million grant for Uzbekistan’s environmental rehabilitation efforts in the Aral Sea region.
–IANS
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