New Delhi, Aug. 3: India and Uzbekistan moved to significantly expand their strategic and economic footprint on Monday, with New Delhi highlighting its intent to deepen ties across key sectors, particularly critical rare earth minerals and mining, during high-level talks in the capital.

According to the Indian Media, The discussions took centre stage during the official visit of Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov, who met with Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan as part of a four-day official visit spanning August 2 to 5.

Warmly welcoming the Uzbek delegation, Jaishankar emphasised India's civilizational and strategic view of Tashkent, highlighting the steady momentum in bilateral engagements.

"We in India consider Uzbekistan to be very much part of our extended neighbourhood. There has always been a continuous exchange of people, ideas, and goods in both directions... In more modern times, we have had regular interaction at the political level between our systems, at institutional levels and are very glad to see there is a steady momentum in our ties."

Jaishankar pointed out that while bilateral cooperation already spans construction, digital technology, energy, healthcare, and education, both nations are ready to chart new territory.

"Our bilateral relations over the years have expanded. And today, they really span a very diverse range of domains from construction and digital to energy, health, education. We want to take it into mining."

Trade between the two nations currently hovers around $1 billion, a figure both sides are eager to scale up. Jaishankar expressed strong optimism for commercial growth, noting simply: "We definitely think that that number should go up."

To foster closer institutional ties, both countries have established a parliamentary friendship group. Jaishankar voiced hope that regular exchanges between representatives would provide additional momentum to diplomatic and economic ties.

Earlier in the day, Foreign Minister Saidov called on President Droupadi Murmu. Their meeting touched upon strategic cooperation, shared historical heritage, and burgeoning commercial synergy--a sentiment bolstered by an India-Uzbekistan Business Forum organised on the sidelines of the visit.

President Murmu underlined that there is "immense potential for cooperation between India and Uzbekistan in the mining sector, particularly in rare earth minerals, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and information technology."

She also lauded the robust educational and professional exchanges acting as the backbone of bilateral relations:

3,000+ Uzbek officials, professionals, and students trained under India's ITEC and scholarship programs.

16,000+ Indian students currently pursuing higher education in Uzbekistan.

Both leaderships reaffirmed their commitment to expanding strategic cooperation in Central Asia, expressing confidence that the high-level exchanges will further strengthen the bonds of trust, friendship, and economic cooperation between the two nations.