India's parliament has officially announced the formation of an 'India-Uzbekistan' Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group. This new structure is aimed at strengthening the strategic partnership between the two countries, which has been actively developing in recent years across economics, technology, culture, and education.
The initiative to create the group was led by the Speaker of India's lower house of parliament, Om Birla. It includes members from both houses—the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha—with representatives from both the ruling coalition and the opposition. The group is to be headed by Ganesh Singh, a member of parliament from the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The idea for the friendship group emerged following Om Birla's visit to Uzbekistan in 2025. At that time, the Indian delegation participated in the Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly in Tashkent, where meetings were held with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Senate Chairperson Tanzila Narbayeva.
Since then, cooperation between the two nations has expanded significantly: trade turnover is growing, joint projects in energy, pharmaceuticals, and IT are being implemented, and the number of flights between the countries is increasing. Parliamentary diplomacy is expected to serve as an additional tool for bolstering bilateral ties.
The group's activities will focus on fostering direct dialogue between legislators, exchanging experiences in lawmaking, and supporting joint initiatives in economics, culture, and education.
Experts note that establishing such a mechanism in Delhi underscores Uzbekistan's special status as one of India's key partners in Central Asia. Against a backdrop of rising tourism exchange and the launch of new educational programs—including Uzbek language courses in Indian universities—the friendship group's work could form an important foundation for further rapprochement between the peoples of the two countries.
It is worth recalling that Uzbekistan intends to use the Chabahar port in southeastern Iran to facilitate trade with India.
Source: podrobno.uz