Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Nov. 30 /Trend D.Azizov /
Uzbekistan and India have discussed the state and prospects of further development of Uzbek-Indian dialogue in the political, economic and investment fields during the next round of political consultations which took place in Delhi on Thursday, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry press service stated.
'The sides discussed the implementation process of bilateral documents signed in the framework of President Islam Karimov's visit to India in May 2011', the report said.
At the meeting the Indian side confirmed its interest to build relations with Uzbekistan on a long term and mutually beneficial basis in all areas of mutual interest, including education, health, human resource development, science and technology, tourism and culture and inter-parliamentary relations.
During the exchange of views on topical regional and international issues, fruitful bilateral cooperation within the UN and other organisations was noted.
Special attention was paid to the issues of trade and economic cooperation. Mutual interest was emphasised in new joint investment projects in sectors such as IT and telecoms, pharmaceutical, textile, light industry and the chemical industry where the Indian side has advanced technological potential.
India was one of the first countries to recognise the independence of Uzbekistan. More than 130 legal and agreement documents were signed between the countries covering virtually all areas of bilateral cooperation.
Currently, India is one of the largest partners of Uzbekistan in the field of information technology, light and textile industry, pharmaceuticals and automobile parts production.
In 2011, the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to nearly $160 million.
In January - September, Uzbek-Indian trade grew by 13.9 per cent compared to the same period in 2011, reaching $139.4 million, including growth in Uzbekistan's export by 1.6 times - up to $22.6 million and imports by almost eight per cent, up to $116.8 million.
There are more than 60 companies with Indian capital in Uzbekistan, including more than 10 with a 100 per cent Indian capital. Representatives of about 20 Indian companies and organisations are accredited to operating in different spheres of production and the sale of pharmaceutical products.