India, Uzbekistan should double bilateral trade in three years, says Piyush Goyal
India's Commerce and Industry Ministry called for doubling India-Uzbekistan bilateral trade — currently around $1.5 billion — within three years, at an India-Uzbekistan business forum.
Opportunities were flagged across mining, textiles, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, digital public infrastructure, IT and fintech as priority sectors for expanded cooperation.
Businesses from both countries were invited to pursue co-investment, co-manufacturing and co-innovation to deepen the economic partnership beyond simple trade in goods.
The recently concluded India-Uzbekistan Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) was cited as a confidence-building step expected to encourage cross-border investment flows between the two economies.
Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) — Legal Nature and India's Model BIT
A Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) is a binding international agreement between two countries that sets out reciprocal legal protections for investors and investments made in each other's territory — typically covering fair and equitable treatment, protection against expropriation without compensation, free transfer of funds, and access to an independent investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism (usually arbitration). Since 2016, India negotiates BITs using its Model BIT text, adopted after India terminated most of its earlier-generation BITs following a wave of investor-state arbitration claims (notably the White Industries and Vodafone-linked disputes); the Model BIT narrows the scope of protections, requires exhaustion of local remedies before international arbitration, and gives states more regulatory space (the "right to regulate") in areas like public health, environment and taxation.
Key Details
- India's Model BIT was approved by the Union Cabinet in December 2015/2016 and replaced the country's earlier Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (BIPAs).
- The India-Uzbekistan BIT was signed on 27 September 2024 in Tashkent and entered into force on 15 May 2025.
- It provides for protection against expropriation, fair treatment and non-discrimination, transfer of funds, and an independent arbitration-based dispute settlement forum, while preserving states' right to regulate.
- A BIT is distinct from a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) — a BIT governs investment protection, while an FTA governs trade in goods/services, tariffs and market access; the two are separate and not automatically linked.
The India-Uzbekistan BIT referenced is precisely this kind of instrument — its entry into force is expected to raise investor confidence and thereby support the trade- and investment-doubling target being sought, illustrating how investment protection treaties function as an enabling layer beneath trade growth.
India-Central Asia Economic Engagement
Uzbekistan is a key Central Asian partner for India within the broader India-Central Asia Dialogue framework, which brings together India and five Central Asian republics (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) to deepen cooperation in trade, connectivity, energy and security. India's trade with Central Asia has historically been constrained by the lack of direct connectivity, since India shares no land border with the region; overland trade routes run through Pakistan (currently closed to India-origin trade) or via Iran's Chabahar port and the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
Key Details
- The India-Central Asia Dialogue (foreign ministers' format) was institutionalized in 2019; a first India-Central Asia Summit was held virtually in January 2022.
- Chabahar port (Iran) and the INSTC are the principal connectivity routes India is developing to bypass Pakistan and access Central Asian and Eurasian markets, including Uzbekistan.
- Current India-Uzbekistan bilateral trade stands at approximately $1.5 billion, which is targeted to double within three years.
The push to double trade with Uzbekistan sits within India's wider Central Asia outreach, where connectivity infrastructure (Chabahar/INSTC) and instruments like the BIT are the tools being used to convert strategic engagement into measurable trade and investment growth.
- Current India-Uzbekistan bilateral trade: approximately $1.5 billion.
- Target: double this trade within three years.
- India-Uzbekistan BIT: signed 27 September 2024 in Tashkent; entered into force 15 May 2025.
- Priority sectors flagged: mining, textiles, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, digital public infrastructure, IT/fintech.
- India's Model BIT (basis for the Uzbekistan treaty) was adopted in 2015-16, replacing the earlier BIPA framework.
- Central Asian republics under the India-Central Asia Dialogue: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.