‘PM Modi’s visit will add new momentum to India-Uzbekistan friendship’

Tashkent, Aug 29 (IANS) People of Uzbekistan are eagerly looking forward to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Tashkent Saturday evening and hope that his visit will add new momentum to the friendly ties between both countries.

“Welcome Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. We Uzbek people are very happy to hear the news of your arrival. We wish that the friendly ties between the two countries keep on growing…..Jai Hind, Jai Bharat, Jai Uzbekistan,” an Uzbeki woman said ahead of PM Modi’s arrival.

A senior Hindi Teacher and Indologist, Bayot Rakhmatov, said that PM Modi’s upcoming visit to the University of Oriental Studies in Tashkent is notable and that it will encourage the people to work harder.

“This is a very good thing. Our University of Oriental Studies, we can say, is very advanced in the field of Indology in Central Asia; we can say it holds the first position. The researchers and teachers at our university have published many books related to India, and in the last 10 years there has been a lot of focus on the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi… Narendra Modi ji coming to our university is a notable thing, and the people he is going to meet will be more motivated to work in this university,” Rakhmatov told IANS

A senior journalist and Indologist, Akhmadjan Kasimov, said that the relations between India and Uzbekistan became strong since PM Modi became Prime Minister and noted that the current visit will play an important role in furthering cooperation.

“Over the past 12 years, since Prime Minister Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, the friendship between our two countries has become stronger, and year by year, the friendship between our two countries has been growing. In this direction, I think Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Uzbekistan will play a very important role in further strengthening cooperation between our two countries,” Kasimov told IANS.

Earlier in the day, PM Modi emplaned for his two-nation tour to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, and expressed confidence that this visit will strengthen India’s strategic partnerships in Central Asia.

He is travelling to Tashkent for a two-day bilateral visit at the invitation of Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

“In recent years, India-Uzbekistan Strategic Partnership has seen significant advancement. I look forward to my discussions with President Mirziyoyev on further deepening our cooperation in trade and investment, digital connectivity, defence, energy, and on advancing our shared visions of Viksit Bharat and Yangi Uzbekistan,” PM Modi said in his departure statement.

–IANS

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