India, Uzbekistan Agree on Long-Term Uranium Supply Arrangement: PM Modi

India, Uzbekistan Agree on Long-Term Uranium Supply Arrangement: PM Modi

TASHKENT, August 30: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on Sunday agreed to put in place a long-term supply arrangement for uranium, PM Modi announced at a press conference following his bilateral meeting here in the Uzbek capital.

This is set to give a big boost to cooperation in the energy sector between the two countries and the overall long-term nuclear power programme of India.

“We will also establish a long-term supply arrangement for uranium,” Modi said at a joint press interaction after his talks with President Mirziyoyev in Tashkent.

India is expanding its nuclear power programme to meet its climate change and energy needs.

It has the 36th nuclear power station which it expects to be fully operational by 2025, raising its total nuclear power capacity to 6,000 MW, a small fraction of the capacity under development by China.

New uranium deal The uranium supply deal between the two countries was one of the major outcomes of the two-day bilateral visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Uzbekistan.

PM Modi and President Mirziyoyev reviewed cooperation in the areas of trade and investment, connectivity, defence, energy and people-to-people exchanges. Both countries are also working on three sister-city and sister-state agreements and Modi pressed for a clear road map to turn the agreements into concrete projects.

Urban Development The two leaders also discussed cooperation in urban development where Modi highlighted the ‘New Tashkent’ project by Uzbekistan.

He also suggested to his Uzbek counterpart to study India’s ‘GIFT City’ project in Gujarat, the economic zone near Ahmedabad that aims to be a global financial and IT hub, and offered to host an Uzbek delegation to study its planning, technologies, and implementation models.

India-Uzbekistan Bilateral Trade Over $1billion: Mirziyoyev “We have also stepped up our cooperation in the trade and economic sphere significantly. Thanks to our efforts and the support from India, for the first time, our bilateral trade exceeded one billion US dollars last year,” Mirziyoyev said.

The number of joint ventures in Uzbekistan with Indian participation increased nearly seven-fold in the last few years, Mirziyoyev also stated. The connectivity also rose significantly, and the number of direct flights between India and Uzbekistan has been increased to 14 per week.

Uzbekistan to ease visa norms for Indians “Following the principle of humanism, we are deciding to cancel the visa regime for Indian citizens when they come to our country for a period of up to 30 days,” the Uzbek president declared, adding that he was sure this will facilitate business, tourism, and exchanges of people.

India and Uzbekistan already have close ties in business and investment, defence, education, pharmaceuticals, information technology, and culture.

Uzbekistan has taken significant steps towards a global orientation and economic reforms and it offers India a major gateway into the Central Asian markets. In June, Uzbekistan also had the ‘International Yoga Festival’ in the country.

The country hosts the Lal Bahadur Shastri Centre for Indian Culture in Tashkent and Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Indian Studies at the International Islamic Academy in Tashkent.

PM Modi’s visit to Uzbekistan ends on Sunday and he would proceed to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, to attend the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).