India and Uzbekistan upgrade ties to comprehensive strategic partnership; set a business goal of $5 billion
India and Uzbekistan on Sunday (30 Aug 2026) decided to upgrade their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, setting a target of $5 billion in annual trade by 2030 following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
The two sides signed 11 agreements to strengthen engagement in several key sectors, including mining and tourism, and agreed to create a framework for long-term uranium supplies from Uzbekistan to India in line with cooperation in the civil nuclear energy sector.
The Modi-Mirziyoyev talks focused on expanding cooperation in the areas of trade, investment, infrastructure, critical minerals, mining, defense and security, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, information technology, digital public infrastructure including UPI and education.
The two sides have also set a target of $5 billion in annual bilateral trade by 2030, Mr. Modi said in a press statement. The current volume of bilateral trade between the two nations exceeds $1 billion.
The two leaders announced the upgrading of India-Uzbekistan strategic ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, reflecting the growing depth and expanding scope of cooperation.
Mr. Modi and Mr. Mirziyoyev witnessed an exchange of agreements covering a wide range of areas such as mining, culture, education, tourism, Ayurveda among others.
“A force for peace and prosperity in Central Asia”
“Uzbekistan is the heart of Central Asia and is the heart of India’s engagement in the region,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister added, “A stronger India-Uzbekistan partnership will be a powerful force for peace, progress and prosperity in Central Asia.” Delving into an ambitious agenda for future cooperation between the two sides, Mr. Modi said India and Uzbekistan would encourage their defense industries to engage in joint development and co-production of military technology.
On trade and investment, he said issues related to market access, banking, payment systems and connectivity would be addressed in a structured manner.
“The close defense and security cooperation between our two countries reflects our deep mutual trust. In the future, we will promote direct ties, co-production and joint development between our defense industries,” Mr Modi said.
“We believe that terrorism, extremism and separatism pose serious challenges to the entire region.” “Maintaining a policy of zero tolerance towards these threats has been and will be our shared commitment,” he added.
A statement of intent was also agreed upon for the restoration and preservation of the Buddhist sites of Fayaz Tepa and Kara Tepa in Uzbekistan.
These ancient Buddhist monasteries in southern Uzbekistan highlight how Buddhism spread along the Silk Road and flourished in Central Asia.
The two sides announced that a commercial agreement has been signed between NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL) and Uzbekistan’s National Interbank Processing Center JSC to enable UPI apps from India to scan the Uzbek National QR (UZQR) to make business payments in the Central Asian country.
The announcements made at the end of talks between Mr. Modi and Mr. Mirziyoyev included a $1 million grant for reforestation in the Aral Sea region.
Mr Modi landed in Tashkent on Saturday (August 29, 2026) on a two-day visit to strengthen ties with Uzbekistan in a number of areas, including trade, investment, defense and clean energy.
“We 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,” Mr Modi said in his opening address at the bilateral talks.
“We will move forward by setting specific targets within this framework,” he said in Hindi.
“Productive Conversations”
The prime minister also mentioned the “productive talks” he had with the Uzbek president at dinner yesterday.
“We had a productive discussion over dinner last night and made some important decisions. “We will establish a Coordinating Council at the level of foreign ministers to provide direction to all aspects of our cooperation through close coordination,” Mr Modi said.
The prime minister said the two parties would also elevate their existing joint commission from the level of secretaries to the level of ministers.
“The two sides will jointly hold a business summit, which will be attended by business leaders from both countries.” “We will also create a long-term uranium supply arrangement,” he said without elaborating.
The joint statement said the prime minister and the Uzbek president agreed to explore cooperation in the fields of geology, mining, nuclear energy, industrial cooperation and critical and strategic minerals, including mineral processing projects, production of value-added products and recycling initiatives.
“They also expressed interest in encouraging Indian companies to participate in the development of potential mineral deposits in Uzbekistan and Uzbek enterprises to cooperate in India. The leaders expressed interest in expanded cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy,” they said.
The statement said Mr. Modi and Mr. Mirziyoyev agreed to expand cooperation in the field of critical minerals through implementation of joint projects in geological exploration, mining, mineral processing and development of integrated value chains.
The Uzbek president said his country was determined to strengthen relations with India in various sectors.
“We aim to deepen cooperation in sectors such as energy, culture, critical minerals, pharmaceuticals, jewelry and agriculture.” “We will prepare road maps for each of these sectors; specific teams from India will visit here and our teams will go to India, which will allow us to clearly define our goals in these areas,” he said.
The joint statement said the two leaders welcomed the close alignment of their positions and the growing importance of Central Asia.
Amid a complex geopolitical situation, they emphasized the need for a free, open, rules-based international order that would build on their multilateral cooperation.
“The leaders highly appreciated the progress made in regional cooperation and reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen engagement within the Central Asia-India format at the Heads of State level and beyond,” the joint statement said.