PM Modi Uzbekistan visit: New Delhi, Tashkent elevate ties to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, set USD 5-billion trade target by 2030

India and Uzbekistan on Sunday elevated their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and set a target of USD 5 billion in annual bilateral trade by 2030 following talks between Prime Minister PM Narendra Modi and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev news agency PTI reportedThe two sides also agreed to establish a framework for the longterm supply of uranium from Uzbekistan to India as part of their cooperation in the civilnuclear energy sectorThe ModiMirziyoyev talks focused on expanding cooperation in trade investment infrastructure critical minerals mining defence and security agriculture pharmaceuticals healthcare information technology digital public infrastructure including Unified Payments Interface UPI and educationThe current volume of bilateral trade between the two countries is more than USD 1 billion PM Modi announced the USD 5 billion trade target in his press statementThe two leaders announced the elevation of their strategic ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership reflecting the growing depth and expanding scope of cooperation between India and UzbekistanThey also witnessed the exchange of several agreements covering a wide range of areas including mining culture education tourism and Ayurveda among othersUzbekistan is at the heart of Central Asia and is at the heart of Indias engagement in the region Modi saidThe prime minister added A stronger IndiaUzbekistan partnership will be a powerful force for peace progress and prosperity in Central AsiaIndia Uzbekistan to boost defence cooperationOutlining the ambitious agenda for future cooperation PM Modi said India and Uzbekistan would encourage their defence industries to explore codevelopment and coproduction of military hardwareOn trade and investment he said issues relating to market access banking payment systems and connectivity would be addressed in a structured mannerThe close defence and security cooperation between our two countries reflects our deep mutual trust In the future we will promote direct linkages coproduction and codevelopment between our defence industries PM Modi statedWe believe that terrorism extremism and separatism pose serious challenges to the entire region he addedMaintaining a policy of zero tolerance against these threats has been and will continue to be our shared resolve said the Indian PMIndia Uzbekistan agree on conservation of Buddhist sitesA Letter of Intent for the restoration and conservation of the Buddhist sites of Fayaz Tepa and Kara Tepa in Uzbekistan was also agreed uponThe ancient Buddhist monasteries in southern Uzbekistan highlight how Buddhism spread along the Silk Road and flourished in Central AsiaModi landed in Tashkent on Saturday on a twoday visit aimed at bolstering ties with Uzbekistan across areas including trade investment defence and clean energyWe 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 SundayWe will move forward by setting concrete goals within this framework he said in HindiThe prime minister also referred to the productive talks he had with the Uzbek President over dinner on Saturday nightWe had a productive discussion over dinner last night and took several important decisions Modi saidHe stated that the two countries would establish a Coordination Council at the level of foreign ministers to provide direction to all aspects of their cooperation through close coordinationThe existing joint commission between the two countries will also be elevated from the level of secretaries to the ministerial level Modi said Both sides will jointly organise a business summit featuring business leaders from the two countriesWe will also establish a longterm arrangement for the supply of uranium he stated without sharing further detailsMirziyoyev said Uzbekistan was determined to strengthen ties with India across diverse sectorsWe 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 addedWith PTI inputs