India, Uzbekistan to establish long-term arrangement for supply of uranium: PM Modi

Tashkent, Aug 30 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced that India and Uzbekistan will establish a long-term supply arrangement for the supply of uranium.

In his remarks during the delegation-level talks with Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Tashkent, PM Modi said: “We will also establish a long-term arrangement for the supply of uranium. Today, we are formalising three sister-city and sister-state arrangements. We should create a roadmap to fully realise their potential. Mega-projects like ‘New Tashkent’ are underway in your country, while in India, we have developed GIFT City in Gujarat. We would be delighted to welcome a delegation from your country to study best practices and the use of technology.”

PM Modi said that India and Uzbekistan will establish a Coordination Council at the level of Foreign Ministers to guide all aspects of cooperation. He stated that the two countries will elevate the Joint Commission from the Secretary level to the Ministerial level. He said that both nations will jointly organise the Business Summit, which will have participation of business leaders from India and Uzbekistan.

Referring to President Mirziyoyev’s book, PM Modi said: “I saw your book, in which you have identified projects across key sectors to advance our bilateral economic partnership and outlined a timeline for the way forward. I appreciate this initiative. I am confident that, by working together, we will make rapid progress on this.”

PM Modi expressed gratitude to the Uzbek President for the warm welcome extended to him.

“I sincerely thank you for the grand welcome and your warm words of friendship. I would especially like to thank you for the wonderful experience you gave me over dinner yesterday. You were personally involved in every detail, and I express my gratitude for it. Along with the delicious food, I also had the opportunity to watch talented children sing and dance. It felt as though you had brought India itself to life here, as if you had awakened the spirit of my Gujarat right here. Moreover, you adorned the entire city in the colours of the Indian tricolour; that, too, was truly touching. All of this demonstrates just how close India is to your heart,” he said.

–IANS

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