Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla met the Foreign Affairs Minister of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Saidov at Parliament House today. In a social media post, the Lok Sabha speaker noted that they had a productive discussion on further strengthening the longstanding friendship between India and Uzbekistan, with a special focus on enhancing Parliamentary Cooperation, Trade, Investment, Connectivity, Education, Culture and People-to-People Exchanges.

Mr Birla highlighted the formation of the India-Uzbekistan Parliamentary Friendship Group by the Parliament of India in March this year, comprising Members from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. He said that the group serves as an important platform to advance cooperation in the fields of Economic Development, Education, Culture and Humanitarian Initiatives.

Mr Birla also recalled his visit to Tashkent for the 150th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in April last year. The Lok Sabha Speaker expressed confidence that today’s interaction will further strengthen the India-Uzbekistan Strategic Partnership, deepen parliamentary engagement and open new avenues of cooperation for the mutual benefit of India and Uzbekistan.