Defence Minister Rajnath Singh represented India in the meeting of Council of Heads of Government (CHG) of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Tashkent, Uzbekistan and held bilateral consultations with the Defence Minister of Uzbekistan Bakhodir Nizamovich Kurbanov.
Crux of the Matter
Both sides agreed on enhanced level of defence engagement between the two nations.
India offered a concessional line of credit of $40 million dollars for procurement of goods and services by Uzbekistan from India.
An MoU on cooperation in the field of military medicine between the two defence forces was exchanged.
Both nations will carry out first ever joint military exercise ‘Dustlik-2019’ from November 4 to 13 in Uzbekistan.
A 45-member Indian Army contingent will participate in the exercise with a focus on counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist operations in mountainous, rural and urban areas
Curiopedia
India and Uzbekistan have had many historical ties, both of them being on the Silk Road and part of the Persian and Hindu/Buddhist Empires. Earlier the area was populated and ruled by Hindu and Buddhist Kings going all the way to Mongolia and beyond. Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire which ruled India from 1526–1857, was born in Andijan in present-day Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan declared its independence on 1 September 1991. The Consulate General of India in Tashkent had been opened on 7 April 1987. It was upgraded to an Embassy on 18 March 1992. Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri died in Tashkent, at 2 AM on the day after signing the Tashkent Declaration, reportedly due to a heart attack, but people allege conspiracy behind the death. More Info
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