Prime Minister Narendra Modi today had seperate meetings with the Presidents of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan on the sidelines of the SCO Summit here and discussed a range of topics with them to further strengthen India's ties with the resource-rich Central Asian countries.
Modi held talks with Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the two leaders reviewed the full range of bilateral ties, especially ways to boost economic and cultural links.
"Wonderful to meet Mr Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of Uzbekistan. Ties between our nations have their roots in history," Modi said in a tweet.
"We reviewed the full range of the India-Uzbekistan friendship, especially ways to boost economic and cultural cooperation," he said.
Modi also met Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon and the two leaders talked about key sectors of bilateral cooperation.
"Great meeting with President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan. We talked about key sectors of bilateral cooperation," Modi tweeted.
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"India and Tajikistan are working together in areas such as security, technology and energy. Today's meeting also focused on ways to further enhance connectivity," he said.
Modi arrived in the picturesque coastal city of China's Shandong province on a two-day visit to attend the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
It is for the first time that an Indian prime minister is attending the SCO summit after India along with Pakistan became a full-fledged member of the grouping, jointly dominated by China and Russia, which has been increasingly seen as a counter to NATO.
President Mirziyoyev said the bilateral trade between India and Uzbekistan was USD 325 million which he said was far below the potential.
Mirziyoyev sought India's help to set up investment parks/zones in his country.
He also promised to send his Deputy Prime Minister to India. The date of the visit, however, was not disclosed.
The SCO currently has eight member countries which represents around 42 per cent of the world's population and 20 per cent of the global GDP.
Modi is expected to hold nearly half a dozen bilateral meetings with leaders of other SCO countries.
The SCO leaders are also expected to review the situation in the Korean peninsula, Afghanistan and Syria.
The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan became its members last year.