Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 10 December 2020, the Chairman of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis Tanzila Narbaeva met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of India to the Republic of Uzbekistan Manish Prabhat.

An exchange of views took place on the course of reforms in the Republic of Uzbekistan, the state and prospects for the development of bilateral political, economic, cultural and humanitarian ties were discussed. Special attention is paid to the issues of inter-parliamentary interaction.

During the dialogue, it was noted that thanks to the efforts of the leaders of the two states, bilateral relations in recent years have reached a new level of strategic partnership.

Manish Prabhat stressed that the country is witnessing processes of democratization, which create new opportunities for strengthening cooperation between Uzbekistan and India.

Also during the meeting, the situation related to the pandemic and measures taken in both countries were discussed. The ambassador praised the timely steps taken by Uzbekistan in this direction, which contribute to minimizing the consequences of COVID-19.

As the head of the upper chamber T. Narbaeva noted, cooperation has been established in the field of medicine, and the fight against coronavirus has become urgent. The adoption of additional measures made it possible to avoid the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on bilateral trade and economic relations. But, despite the measures taken, the volume of trade did not reach the existing potential. So, if in 2019 it was US$350 million, then this year it made up US$260 million.

The Indian side intends to invest a credit line in the amount of US$1 billion for the implementation of projects on road infrastructure, information and communication technologies, modernization of the sewerage system in the city of Namangan.

Today, 2 fundamental documents are being developed - an investment agreement and an agreement on preferential trade. The Indian side is interested in opening a sea route for Uzbekistan through Afghanistan.

Cooperation between the two countries is also being established in the military sphere. Interest was expressed in the restoration of tourist and cultural exchanges between Uzbekistan and India.

It was noted about cooperation in the field of education. Branches of Indian universities have been organized in Andijan and Tashkent. In addition, 28 startups are being implemented in the IT park, a number of projects in the field of information technology, and a technopark has been created with the assistance of Indian colleagues.

The meeting discussed the state and prospects for the development of bilateral relations in the context of strengthening inter-parliamentary ties.

It was noted that inter-parliamentary cooperation between the Senate of the Oliy Majlis and the Parliament of the Republic of India has been carried out since 2005.

Over the past period, the parties exchanged visits of delegations, held international and other joint events.

It was noted that a significant contribution to the development of interaction in this direction is made by the groups created this year in the Senate and the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan for cooperation with the upper and lower chambers of parliament, which contributes to the exchange of experience and the development of bilateral ties. After the end of the pandemic, it is planned to resume visits by the heads of the upper chambers of parliaments.

The parties considered issues of further cooperation in many areas - the export of agricultural products, the joint production of pharmaceutical products, the digitalization of Uzbekistan, as well as the exchange of personnel, in particular, in increasing the potential of parliamentarians and staff of the apparatus of both chambers.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of India to the Republic of Uzbekistan Manish Prabhat, congratulating Uzbekistan on its election to the UN Human Rights Council, noted that this is an important milestone in the country’s foreign and domestic policy, and also welcomed the initiatives of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev voiced during the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, noting their readiness for further cooperation.