On the sidelines of the summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Tashkent, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov met on June 11 at Kuksaroy complex with Shri S.M. Krishna, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of India, a representative of observer state.

Head of our state remarked that given the historical and cultural closeness of the two peoples, the relations between Uzbekistan and India have been consistently progressing.

Today, the Uzbek-Indian interaction is based on principles of mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields. Close and constructive contacts are built between the two countries at the highest level. Beginning from August 1997, consultations between foreign ministries are held regularly, the latest round of which took place in New Delhi on August 1, 2008. The global financial and economic downturn notwithstanding, economic cooperation between our nations has been developing steadily.

Acquiring a new sense in the context of globalization, cooperation in humanitarian sphere has been gathering momentum, in the spirit of the Agreement on Cooperation in Cultural Area penned in 1994. Thus, about 1,000 Uzbek specialists have since 1993 been trained in India in such areas as information technology, small business, banking, and other fields.

The two nations support one another in the international arena, augmenting cooperation within regional and international institutions.

During the meeting at Kuksaroy, Shri S.M. Krishna expressed his earnest gratitude to the President of Uzbekistan for the warm welcome and emphasized India’s interest in the further enlarging the mutually beneficial cooperation with our nation.