India and Uzbekistan on Wednesday11 May
agreed to exploit the full potential of the Chabahar port for trade between the
two countries as they held extensive talks focusing on greater bilateral
economic ties.
The two sides also
agreed to take steps to enhance connectivity to boost trade during the 15th round of
India-Uzbekistan Foreign Office Consultations that took place in Delhi.
"During the consultations, both
sides undertook a comprehensive review of the state and prospects of bilateral
cooperation including political, security, trade-economic, connectivity,
development partnership, humanitarian and cultural spheres," the Ministry
of External Affairs (MEA) said.
Talks particularly
focused on greater economic cooperation
It said the talks particularly focused on
greater economic cooperation and steps to enhance connectivity between India
and Uzbekistan.
"Both sides agreed to exploit the
full potential of Chabahar port for trade between the two countries," it
said in a statement.
Located in the Sistan-Balochistan
province on the energy-rich Iran's southern coast, the Chabahar port is being
developed by India, Iran and Afghanistan to boost trade ties.
In a significant move, India, Iran and
Uzbekistan in December held extensive talks on joint use of the Chabahar Port
while underlining its importance in enhancing regional connectivity.
They agreed to further enhance
cooperation in the UN, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and other
multilateral fora.
"Indian side conveyed its full
support for Uzbekistan's ongoing chairmanship of SCO. Both sides highly
assessed the holding of the 1st India-Central Asia Summit in January and agreed
to expeditiously implement its outcomes along with other Central Asian
countries," the MEA said.
The consultations
were co-chaired by Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West) in the MEA and FurkatSidikov,
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan.
The last round of FoC
was held in the virtual format in November 2020. | 
