New Delhi [India], September 4 (ANI): Uzbekistan Ambassador to India Sardor Mirzayusupovich Rustambaev on Friday congratulated India on achieving 7.8 per cent GDP growth, describing it as a “breakthrough on the world stage” amid difficult geopolitical circumstances, and said the two countries need to complement and support each other.
Speaking at a round-table discussion on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent state visit to Uzbekistan, jointly organised by the India Central Asia Foundation (ICAF) and the Embassy of Uzbekistan, Rustambaev said India and Uzbekistan are not competing economies but are “very complementary” to each other.
“We are not competing economies. We are very complementary to each other. We need to grow together. I would like to congratulate India on the milestone achievement of 7.8 per cent growth, which is a breakthrough on the world stage in these difficult circumstances,” the envoy said.
“In these difficult geopolitical circumstances, India managed to achieve such a huge leap forward. Uzbekistan is very close to it, not as big as 7.8, but very close to it… We need to complement and support each other,” he added.
Highlighting the significance of PM Modi’s visit to Uzbekistan, Rustambaev said both leaders were keen to take bilateral relations to the “next level”, with the visit coinciding with Uzbekistan’s Independence Day.
“Both leaders were very keen to take the relationship to the next level. Luckily, it coincided with our Independence Day,” he said.
The envoy noted that PM Modi began his address by congratulating the people of Uzbekistan on behalf of 1.5 billion Indians on the country’s 35th anniversary of independence, which also coincided with the 15th anniversary of the strategic partnership between India and Uzbekistan.
Describing the visit as “special”, Rustambaev said there was a positive atmosphere from the moment PM Modi’s aircraft landed in Uzbekistan, with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev personally receiving him at the airport.
“We had very fruitful discussions in a restricted format, where the two leaders discussed many areas of interest for both sides. Then we had broader discussions with the participation of the delegations,” he said.
Rustambaev said the personal rapport between the two leaders was particularly significant, noting that they addressed each other as “brother”.
“Being present, I can say that, in my past experience, I had taken part in three such visits, but this one was something special because of the private and personal interactions between the two leaders and the way they communicated, calling each other ‘brother’,” he said.
“Our nations are not only friendly nations, but brotherly nations,” he added.
On the outcomes of the visit, the ambassador said India and Uzbekistan elevated their strategic partnership to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, opening avenues for cooperation across a wider range of sectors.
“We elevated the level of our strategic partnership to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership, which encompasses a lot of different areas and virtually gives us the possibility to expand further and elevate our relationship to the next level,” he said.
On the economic front, Rustambaev said the two countries have set an ambitious target of increasing bilateral trade to USD 5 billion by 2030, asserting that the target is achievable.
“We have set a target to increase bilateral trade turnover to USD 5 billion. We have experienced tremendous growth in our bilateral trade. In the past five years, it has almost tripled. In the past three years, it has doubled, and for the first time, we reached the mark of USD 1.3 billion,” he said.
He said the current trade volume does not reflect the full potential of the two economies, noting that India is among Uzbekistan’s top 10 trading partners.
“The two leaders acknowledged that this still does not correspond to the existing potential. India is one of our biggest trading partners and is among our top 10 trading partners. Still, given the size of the economy and the size of the market, we can do so much more,” Rustambaev said.
He also highlighted the creation of a new oversight mechanism under which the two Foreign Ministers will oversee a range of bilateral issues.
“We reached an agreement that the two Foreign Ministers will establish a mechanism to oversee a whole range of matters of bilateral importance. It will be regulated by the two Foreign Ministers,” he said.
The ambassador further said the two sides have sought greater alignment between their respective development strategies, with emphasis on creating synergies between Uzbekistan’s development priorities and India’s national development goals. (ANI)
Uzbekistan envoy hails India’s 7.8% GDP growth, says economies are ‘complementary’, need to grow together
