Indian Council of World Affairs

Today multifaceted strategic cooperation between Uzbekistan and India is developing at a new level both on a bilateral and multilateral basis.

Last year, Uzbekistan and India celebrated the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations. Indeed 2022 was full of major diplomatic events: the leaders of two countries met several times, among them the first India-Central Asia Summit (January), the high-level Dialogue on global development in the BRICS Plus format (online August) and the SCO Summit in Samarkand (September) under Uzbekistan's Presidency.

Such regular and intensive political dialogues provide a solid basis for bringing mutually beneficial relations to new heights.

One should note that since 2017, trade and economic cooperation between Uzbekistan and India have intensified. If in 2017, trade turnover was US  Dollars 323.6 million, in 2021, it amounted to US Dollars 490 million. According to preliminary data, the total trade volume between Uzbekistan and India reached approximately US Dollars 700 million.

Uzbekistan is open to Indian investments and welcomes cooperation in producing chemical goods, ICTs, pharmaceuticals, medicines, textiles and other spheres by creating favourable conditions. In turn, the interest of Indian investors in Uzbekistan is also growing, and strong cooperation has been established in these directions.

Currently, there are around 400 enterprises with the participation of Indian capital in Uzbekistan. Uzbek-India Trade House was established in New Delhi, and Uzbekistan-India Entrepreneurship Development Centre was opened in Tashkent.

Meanwhile, because of the absence of direct ground communication between Uzbekistan and India (Central and South Asia in general), countries can not realise their total trade and economic potential.

Therefore, Uzbekistan and India are interested in solving transportation problems and intend to develop transport and communication interconnectivity.

India is a significant country located at the centre of sea lanes in the Indian Ocean that connect Asia and Africa. In this vein, strengthening the connectivity of Central and South Asia through the Trans-Afghan railway project contributes to the global logistics and value chains. It serves the benefit of both the Eurasian region and its neighbouring countries.

As noted by President Mirziyoyev in his speech at the "Voice of Global South" Summit on January 12, 2023, Uzbekistan fully supports the development of the "North-South" international corridor, which is one of the leading transport arteries in the Eurasian region and also promoted by India.

The participation of the President of Uzbekistan at the invitation of the Prime Minister of India in the plenary session of the "Voice of Global South" Summit once again demonstrated the high level of mutual trust and dialogue between the leadership of the two countries and also the strategic cooperation between Uzbekistan and India.

The Summit was held under India's G20 Presidency, during which President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev made essential remarks on the current trends in the development of international relations, the problems of food and energy security, issues of environment, logistics, educating the young generation, developing human capital and others.

Furthermore, by emphasising India's active role in strengthening mutually beneficial and productive relations with developing countries, the President of Uzbekistan proposed practical initiatives to implement the full potential of the developing countries. In particular, the President of Uzbekistan proposed to create a "green technology and innovation database" for the Global South, establish a permanent dialogue platform – "Voice of the Youth", and also invited international partners to participate in the implementation of the project of the construction of a railway through Afghanistan to the Indian Ocean aimed at strengthening the connectivity of Central and South Asia.

Implementation of these initiatives is very timely, especially considering the current geopolitical developments and conditions, such as various contradictions and conflicts causing uncertainty and crisis in the global economy. India's growing international influence and potential to strengthen mutually beneficial and productive relations with developing countries are essential in this context.

Noteworthy that thanks to the personal efforts of the two countries leaders – President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Prime Minister Narendra Modi – qualitative shifts are taking place in Uzbek-Indian relations towards ensuring mutually beneficial cooperation in different areas. Such development of partnership between Uzbekistan and India, in particular, strengthening the interconnection of the two regions – Central and South Asia through sustainable trade, economic and transport communications obviously will become a solid foundation for long-term interaction.

*****

*The author Eldor TULYAKOV is Executive Director, Development Strategy Center, Uzbekistan and Former Member of Parliament of Uzbekistan