Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- India is traditionally considered by Uzbekistan as a close, strategic partner, cooperation with which has recently acquired a multifaceted and long-term nature.

The two states are celebrating 29 years of successful partnership this year. India was among the first countries to recognize the independence of Uzbekistan.

Today, relations between Tashkent and New Delhi, based on the principles of trust and mutual consideration of interests, are developing along an ascending trajectory. They have achieved the greatest development since 2017. Since this period, the Uzbek-Indian strategic partnership has risen to a qualitatively new level. To a large extent, this is facilitated by the intensity of political contacts at the highest level.

President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev visited India twice in 2018 and 2019. In addition, the leaders of the two countries have developed a good tradition of holding meetings “on the margins” of the platforms of international organizations. The head of Uzbekistan met with the Prime Minister of India during the SCO summits in Astana and Qingdao. In this regard, the Uzbek-Indian virtual summit, held in December 2020, became another significant event that sets the tone in the modern paradigm of bilateral relations.

A significant role in the strategic rapprochement of Uzbekistan and India is also played by the similarity of the positions of the parties on many topical issues of the international and regional agenda, which makes it possible to find common ground of interests of the two countries in a wide range of areas of practical interaction in political, economic, scientific and technological, cultural, humanitarian, healthcare. spheres.

Mutual interest in further development and deepening of cooperation between Uzbekistan and India also determines the growing activity of countries in international and regional organizations.

In particular, the Uzbek side supports India’s striving to obtain the status of a permanent member of the UN Security Council. In this context, it should be noted that the parties take a principled position in countering such threats and challenges as terrorism and extremism, drug trafficking and other crimes of a transnational nature that directly affect the security, prosperity and sustainable development of the international community. Tashkent also took an active part in almost all events held under New Delhi’s chairmanship of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Another important area of cooperation is Afghanistan. India and Uzbekistan are interested in restoring a peaceful economy and are making a significant contribution to the socio-economic stabilization of this country.

Today, such projects in the field of transport and energy as the Hairaton-Mazar-i-Sharif railway, the Surkhan-Puli-Khumri power transmission line are being implemented by the Uzbek side, while the Zaranj-Dilaram, Spin-Buldak-Kandahar and Kandahar-Kabul, Salma and Shakhtut dams are being implemented by India.

Tashkent and New Delhi also pay special attention to the education of Afghan citizens. A clear confirmation of this is the opening in the city of Termez of an Educational Center for training Afghan youth in 17 areas of higher and 16 - secondary specialized, vocational education. India, in turn, is helping to establish the Afghan National University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology in Kandahar. Every year, this country provides 1000 scholarships to educate Afghan students in their universities.

Such efforts of the parties will undoubtedly become an important contribution to the transfer of the Afghan economy on the rails of restoration and the establishment of long-term peace on Afghan soil, in which Tashkent and New Delhi are very interested.

After all, it is the territory of Afghanistan that can serve as a ground bridge connecting Uzbekistan with India, providing an opportunity to establish a completely new transport and transit corridor between South and Central Asia.

Tashkent and New Delhi are interested in building interconnection between Central and South Asia and support the implementation of trans-Afghan highways. In particular, Uzbekistan and India participate in the Ashgabat agreement, in the project of the North-South transport corridor, where the construction of the Mazar-i-Sharif-Herat railway with access to the Chobahar port in Iran plays a key role.

The commissioning of these transport hubs, as well as the international transport and communication project "North-South" carried out by India, will undoubtedly create favorable preconditions for the full use of all the existing potential for cooperation, including the intensification of trade and economic exchanges between the two regions.

In addition, Uzbekistan is promoting the project of the trans-Afghan railway Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar, which in the future can be connected with the transport and communication systems of India, strengthen the interconnection of South and Central Asia, become an important factor in mutually beneficial cooperation between the countries, as well as the sustainable development of two regions.

In this context, it should be noted that despite the geographical remoteness of Uzbekistan and India, as well as the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the economies of the two countries and the disruption of the continuity of global supply chains, at the end of 2020, the level of trade between them reached US$442.6 million, exceeding this the indicator of 2019 by US$87 million (an increase of 20%).

Another area showing the positive dynamics of the development of Uzbek-Indian relations is the establishment of the practice of direct cooperation between the regions of the two countries. In this regard, attention is drawn to the interaction between the Andijan region of Uzbekistan and the state of Gujarat, where, together with Indian companies, 9 projects worth US$84 million are already being implemented.

From this point of view, the plans of the parties to conclude a bilateral investment agreement, which is designed to promote and protect investments, also look very promising.

Of particular note is the fact that the Indian side has confirmed the approval of a credit line in the amount of US$448 million for four development projects in Uzbekistan in the field of road construction, wastewater treatment and information technology.

At the same time, work has begun on using the potential of the free economic zones of the two countries, including the Uzbek-Indian free pharmaceutical zone in the Andijan region.

Uzbekistan is interested in further deepening cooperation with India in science-intensive spheres, which is one of the world leaders in the field of infocommunications and technologies, occupies a dominant position in the world market of programming and IT outsourcing, which is of great practical importance for our country.

Over the years, the Indian side has made a significant contribution to the growth of the infocommunications and technology sector. In 2019, the Joint Committee for Cooperation in Science and Technology was formed. Since July of the same year, the Tashkent Technopark has been developing in cooperation with the Society of Software Technology Parks of India. Moreover, in the last 3 years alone, the number of joint ventures in the ICT field has tripled.

At the same time, the development of events in the global economy shows that Uzbekistan needs new, modern schemes and models of partnership, both on a bilateral basis and in a multilateral format. This will allow us to respond to changes in the global economy, form new economic centers, and introduce innovations and digital technologies everywhere. All this requires a certain rethinking of the nature of our cooperation, updating its strategic paradigm, entering new promising areas.

In this context, projects to enhance the connectivity of Central and South Asia, incl. through the development of the digital economy and the acceleration of sustainable economic cooperation between the countries of the two regions are becoming one of the topical areas of cooperation. Uzbekistan hopes for an active partnership with India on the project to create an SCO platform for interaction between information technology agencies of the two countries. The implementation of this initiative is relevant for ensuring the presence of India and Uzbekistan in the digital space of the SCO.

Considering that India has the third largest startup “ecosystem” in the world and has created a solid and dynamic environment for start-up development, the country’s experience in this area is interesting. With this in mind, the creation of a joint working group on startups and innovations could facilitate the study of Indian experience in this area.

The COVID-19 pandemic also showed that international cooperation is needed to combat the spread of infectious diseases. This updates India’s proposal to form a group of medical experts at the annual meeting of SCO health ministers to study effective and inexpensive ways to treat people.

Both countries pay great attention to the development of cooperation in the cultural and humanitarian sphere. Thus, India intends to take part in the implementation of a project to preserve the Buddhist heritage in Surkhandarya region (the Fayaztepa and Karatepa complexes in Termez). The implementation of this initiative is important from the point of view of the common historical interconnectedness of the two countries.

There is a high dynamics of development of cooperation between the two countries in the field of education and technology. Branches of Amity and Shard universities function in Tashkent and Andijan, and issues of opening branches of other Indian universities are being discussed. The Uzbek side highly appreciates the assistance provided by the Indian government in the field of training specialists through the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) program. Today, the number of people trained in the main areas within the framework of this program is more than 2,400 people.

Taking these factors into account, it can be noted with confidence that over the past 29 years, Uzbek-Indian relations have acquired in many ways new dynamics, have reached the next level of strategic partnership. Tashkent and New Delhi interact in specific cases to ensure the interests of both mutual and each of the partners. This creates the necessary conditions and prerequisites for deepening not only bilateral cooperation between India and Uzbekistan, but also expanding the interaction of the Central Asian region with the countries of South Asia.

Alisher Kadyrov,

Head of Department of the Institute

Strategic and interregional research under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan