PM Modi conferred Uzbekistan's supreme state award on Tashkent visit

PM Modi was conferred Uzbekistan's highest state honour, the Order of "Oliy Darajali Dustlik", by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Tashkent.PM Modi was conferred Uzbekistan’s highest state honour, the Order of “Oliy Darajali Dustlik”.Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred the Order of “Oliy Darajali Dustlik”, Uzbekistan’s supreme state award, by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev during his visit to Tashkent. The honour marks Modi’s 36th international award.PM Modi said he felt proud to receive Uzbekistan’s highest award and dedicated the honour to the enduring bond between India and Uzbekistan.“It is a moment of great pride for me to be honoured with Uzbekistan’s highest award,” Modi said. He highlighted the meaning of “Dostlik”, which means friendship, and noted that Indians are also familiar with the word “Dost”, meaning friend.Modi said the word “Dostlik” perfectly encapsulates the core sentiment underlying the relationship between India and Uzbekistan. He added that the honour was not for a single individual but for all 1.4 billion Indians. On behalf of his fellow citizens, he expressed heartfelt gratitude to the people of Uzbekistan, the government and his friend, President Mirziyoyev. During delegation-level talks, Mirziyoyev praised India’s progress under Modi’s leadership. He said India was achieving remarkable results across all sectors, maintaining high rates of economic growth and implementing major projects.The Uzbek president also highlighted India’s advances in digitalisation, information technology, artificial intelligence and space exploration, among other fields. He said New Delhi’s voice and influence in global affairs had grown stronger and added that Uzbekistan, as a close friend, was pleased to see these achievements. PM Modi said India and Uzbekistan would establish a long-term arrangement for the supply of uranium. He also said the two sides were formalising three sister-city and sister-state arrangements and should create a roadmap to fully realise their potential.The PM referred to mega-projects such as “New Tashkent” in Uzbekistan and GIFT City in Gujarat, India. He said India would be delighted to welcome a delegation from Uzbekistan to study best practices and the use of technology in these developments.Modi also referred to a book by Mirziyoyev in which the Uzbek president had identified projects across key sectors to advance the bilateral economic partnership and outlined a timeline for the way forward. Modi appreciated the initiative and expressed confidence that both sides would make rapid progress by working together.PM Modi said the two leaders had a productive discussion over dinner the previous night and had taken several important decisions, with their teams also aligned on these matters.The two sides will establish a Coordination Council at the Foreign Minister level to provide direction to all aspects of their cooperation through close coordination. They will also elevate their Joint Commission from the Secretary level to the Ministerial level.India and Uzbekistan will jointly organise a business summit featuring business leaders from both nations- EndsPublished By: Devika BhattacharyaPublished On: Aug 30, 2026 14:37 IST