PM pays tribute to Lal Bahadur Shastri in Tashkent, plants tree with Uzbek president

Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays tribute to the bust of former Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri at the Shastri Memorial in Tashkent. | Photo credit: ANI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (August 30, 2026) paid floral tributes at the Shastri Memorial in the Uzbekistan capital, honoring the legacy of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri by planting a tree along with Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

Shastri, India’s second prime minister, died suddenly in the Uzbek capital on January 11, 1966, just hours after signing the historic Tashkent Declaration to end the 1965 Indo-Pakistani war.

His “timeless call of ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ continues to inspire generations,” the Ministry of External Affairs said, adding that his “life epitomized simplicity, courage and unwavering devotion to the nation”.

A shared commitment

Mr Modi and Mr Mirziyoyev also jointly planted a tree in the Presidential Palace garden as part of India’s ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ initiative and Uzbekistan’s green effort ‘Yashil Makon’, the MEA said in a post on X. “The gesture reflects the joint commitment of India and Uzbekistan to nurture a greener and more sustainable future.

The tree-planting ceremony took place after the prime minister held delegation-level talks with the Uzbek president at the Kuksaroy Presidential Palace as part of his two-day state visit to Uzbekistan, with the two countries agreeing to upgrade their bilateral strategic partnership to a comprehensive strategic partnership and set a bilateral trade target of $5 billion by 2030.

PM meets Indian diaspora

Mr. Mirziyoyev also awarded Uzbekistan’s highest honor for a foreign leader, the Order of Oliy Darajali Do’stlika, to Mr. Modi for his contribution to strengthening friendship between the two countries.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Modi attended a yoga retreat organized by the Yoga Federation of Uzbekistan and met members of the Indian community at a hotel in Tashkent. The prime minister is on the first leg of a two-country visit that will next take him to Kyrgyzstan from August 31 to September 1 for the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.

Published – 30 Aug 2026 20:59 IST