India-Uzbekistan relations: Important facts you need to know about it

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit Uzbekistan, which is the most populous country in Central Asia. India and Uzbekistan enjoy a close strategic partnership. PM Modi will hold talks with President Islam Karimov and ink key agreements to strengthen cooperation between both the nations. There are over 3000 Indians in living in Uzbekistan.

Here are some important facts need to know about India and Uzbekistan

• The founder of the Mughal dynasty, Babur, came from Uzbekistan.

• Indian movies have traditionally been popular in Uzbekistan.

• Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru visited Uzbekistan in 1955 and 1961 (then USSR).

• Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri visited Uzbekistan (then USSR) in January 1966 and died in Tashkent.

• His name has been commemorated in Tashkent - a street and school are named after him and there is also a statue and a bust in his memory in the city.

• Consulate General of India in Tashkent was formally inaugurated on 7th April 1987.

• Prime Minister Narasimha Rao visited Uzbekistan in 1993 and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 25-26 April, 2006.

• President Karimov paid State visits to India in 1994, 2000, 2005, he paid his last to India in May 2011.

• Uzbekistan and India have signed agreements, MOUs, protocols and Joint Statements in areas such as trade, investment, education, civil aviation, science & technology, telecommunications, agriculture and IT.

• Uzbekistan supported India's candidature for the non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council for 2011-2012, and has been publicly supporting India's inclusion as permanent member of the UNSC.

• Trade relations between India and Uzbekistan are governed by the Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation signed in May 1993.

• India's main mainly exports drugs, other pharmaceutical products, paper, wood products, machinery, garments & fabrics, tea, plastic items, chemicals, surgical items and consumer goods to Uzbekistan.

• Beans, chemicals and non-ferrous metals constitute the largest item of Indian imports from Uzbekistan apart from machinery, silver, raw cotton & silk, pulses & services.

• Six Uzbek educational institutions, nationwide, promote studies of Indian languages, particularly Hindi, from primary to post-graduate level.

• Uzbek Radio has completed 50 years of Hindi broadcasting in 2012. Uzbek TV channels have more than once telecast the Ramayan and Mahabharat serials.