PM Modi in Tashkent: India, Uzbekistan seek to unlock next phase of $1.5 billion trade ties
A bilateral State Visit to Uzbekistan was undertaken on August 29-30, 2026, ahead of onward travel to the Kyrgyz Republic for the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit (August 31-September 1, 2026).
Delegation-level talks were held with Uzbekistan's leadership to strengthen the bilateral strategic partnership, with discussions spanning trade and investment, critical minerals, defence, healthcare, energy, digital connectivity, education, and technology.
Uzbekistan figures among the top-10 trading partners for India in Central Asia, with current bilateral trade at approximately USD 1-1.5 billion; both sides expressed the intent to substantially expand this over the coming years.
The visit builds on India's "Connect Central Asia" policy framework, which seeks deeper economic and connectivity engagement with the resource-rich, landlocked Central Asian region.
India's "Connect Central Asia" Policy and Regional Connectivity Corridors
India's Central Asia outreach is constrained by the absence of direct land access (due to Pakistan), making multimodal transit corridors essential. The "Connect Central Asia" policy (announced 2012) is the overarching framework, operationalized through instruments like the Ashgabat Agreement and the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
Key Details
- The Ashgabat Agreement (2011) is a multimodal transport agreement originally between Iran, Oman, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Qatar; India joined in February 2018, gaining a legal/institutional route to Central Asia via Iran and Turkmenistan.
- The INSTC (established 2000, India-Russia-Iran founding members) is a ~7,200-km multimodal network of ship, rail, and road routes linking India to Russia and Europe via Iran and Central Asia; the "Eastern corridor" of INSTC connects via Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan.
- Chabahar Port (Iran), developed with Indian investment, is positioned as the maritime gateway feeding both the INSTC and Ashgabat Agreement routes into landlocked Central Asia, though the associated Chabahar-Zahedan railway extension has faced delays linked to sanctions.
Deepening trade with Uzbekistan is directly bottlenecked by connectivity — the visit's connectivity-cooperation agenda reflects India's attempt to operationalize the Ashgabat Agreement/INSTC routes that bypass Pakistan.
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
The SCO is a Eurasian political, economic, and security grouping through which India engages multilaterally with Central Asian states, China, Russia, and Pakistan on a shared platform, distinct from purely bilateral visits like the Uzbekistan leg of this trip.
Key Details
- Founded in 2001 (Shanghai Five expanded and renamed) with founding members China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan; India and Pakistan became full members in 2017.
- India held the SCO chairmanship in 2023 and hosted the summit virtually; the 2026 summit (26th) is hosted by the Kyrgyz Republic.
- The SCO's Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), headquartered in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, is its key counter-terrorism mechanism — relevant given Uzbekistan's role as an SCO founding member and RATS host.
The bilateral Uzbekistan visit is timed immediately ahead of the SCO Summit, allowing India to combine focused bilateral economic diplomacy with multilateral engagement in a single Central Asia trip.
Critical Minerals Cooperation with Central Asia
Central Asian states, including Uzbekistan, hold reserves of critical minerals (uranium, rare earths, and other strategic minerals) relevant to India's import-substitution and clean-energy goals, similar to India's parallel lithium engagement with Argentina.
Key Details
- Uzbekistan is among the world's larger uranium producers; India has explored civil nuclear and mineral cooperation with Central Asian states as part of energy security diversification.
- India's National Critical Minerals Mission (approved 2025) explicitly targets overseas resource partnerships, including in Central Asia, to reduce reliance on a small number of supplier countries for battery and strategic-tech inputs.
- KABIL (Khanij Bidesh India Ltd., est. 2019) is India's designated vehicle for securing overseas critical mineral assets.
Critical minerals featured explicitly on the Tashkent visit agenda alongside defence and connectivity, situating this visit within India's broader strategy of diversifying mineral supply chains through bilateral partnerships across Asia and Latin America.
- State Visit to Uzbekistan: August 29-30, 2026; SCO Summit in Kyrgyz Republic: August 31-September 1, 2026 (26th SCO Summit).
- Current India-Uzbekistan bilateral trade: approximately USD 1-1.5 billion; target discussed to expand toward USD 3 billion over the next few years.
- Ashgabat Agreement: signed 2011; India joined February 2018.
- INSTC: established 2000; ~7,200 km multimodal corridor; founding members India, Russia, Iran.
- SCO: founded 2001; India and Pakistan admitted as full members in 2017; India chaired SCO in 2023.
- SCO's RATS (counter-terrorism body) headquartered in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.