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Uzbekistan-India relations
Indian people who travel to Uzbekistan say that they fall in love with Uzbek cities, though it happens slowly.
Citizen of Uzbekistan pays tribute homage Pal Bahadur Shastri Many of them find our cities, first of all Tashkent, as very beautiful, green and clean. Wide and well asphalted streets, which are not crowded, absence of traffic jams, neat parks, trees, meadows, narrow irrigation channels throughout the city, serene, azure skies and nice, warm and friendly people.
Uzbekistan has a long tradition of welcoming its guests. Indian guests are usually overwhelmed by the warmth of Uzbek hospitality. They are usually surprised how many Uzbek people love Indian songs and UzbekBollywood.info stars. You can easily see in shop-windows posters of Shahrukh Khan or Rani Mukerji. If you go to bazaars, you will be welcomed by Uzbeks saying “Namaste” or by old Raj Kapoor’s songs like “Mera joota hai Japani…. Dil hai Hindustani”!! Every week, at least three Hindi films are dubbed into Uzbek language and shown on National Uzbek TV. They are as popular among youth today as they were the older generation. People really love them, having many other favorite actors such as Amitabh Bachchan, Amir Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Sridevi, Aiswarya Rai, Mithun Chakraborti, and Priety Zinta.
Once upon a time in Tashkent, during the Soviet Union era, the International Cinema Festival for Asian and African countries used to be held. Many of those famous old UzbekBollywood.info stars visited our country.
One of the largest international projects filmed in Uzbekistan, is still considered to be the Adventures of Ali-Baba and the Forty Thieves. It was produced in 1980, during the Soviet era, by Uzbekfilm studio, in collaboration with India (Ganem-Rlm and Eagle-Films studios). This great movie was one of the top-selling films of all time in the Soviet Union, a huge film empire in those days. This colorful film-fantasy is based on the Oriental tale of a brave young man who manages to trick some crafty robbers. It featured a bunch of both Soviet and Indian film stars. The Adventures of Ali-Baba and the Forty Thieves had almost 53 million viewers during 1980 alone in the USSR.
Tashkent street named Mahatma Gandhi However, Uzbek people know well and remember with great respect and warmth not only film stars, but also outstanding Indian political leaders, poets and writers. There are 4 Tashkent streets named after Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rabindranat Tagor and Lal Bahadur Shastri…
Tashkent street named Lal Bahadur Shastri In January 1966, to broker peace between India and Pakistan, the Soviet Union mediated a meeting between Lal Bahadur Shastri and Ayub Khan in Tashkent, Uzbekistan – then one of the Soviet Socialist Republics. India and Pakistan signed a joint declaration under Soviet mediation. Under the treaty, India agreed to return to Pakistan all the territories occupied by it during the war. The joint declaration was signed on January 10, 1966 and Lal Bahadur Shastri suddenly died of a heart attack on the same night. Afterwards, in the center of Tashkent the Lal Bahadur Shastri Monument was erected.
And you know what happened after the visit of Indira Gandhi to Tashkent? Many newborn girl babies were named after her…!
There is also one place in Tashkent which everybody knows, called “Ganga”. Why? Because there was a very popular Indian goods shop named “Ganga”, where many fine products from India were sold. And that famous shop still exists! It has even retained its name! It has, however, unfortunately lost its Indian suppliers.
Currently in Tashkent, we have a very dynamic Cultural Center named after Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri which holds free classes in Hindi, Kathak, Tabla playing and Yoga. These classes are very popular and have become a very effective vehicle to familiarize Uzbek nationals with India's rich cultural heritage.
Another remarkable thing is the Jawaharlal Nehru Indo-Uzbek Center for Information and Technology which has been established in Tashkent with the assistance of Rs 3 cores from India.
There are more than a thousand words which in common usage between Uzbekistan and Northern India (Hindi). Such words as “samosa” and “pulav” are originally Uzbek words.
Indian visitors to Uzbek monuments will immediately notice similarities with our medieval architecture. And it is obvious that the close friendly relations between Uzbekistan and India have their roots deep in history.
At the present time, Uzbekistan and India continue to work together in the interest of peace and stability in the region and the well-being and prosperity of the people.
After the end of the Soviet Union and arrival of Independence, in March, 1992 India and Uzbekistan again established diplomatic relations. The two countries share common values such as secularism, tolerance and strong opposition to the forces of fundamentalism and terrorism. During the visit of President Islam Karimov to India in April 2005, an Agreement on Cooperation in Military and Military Technical areas was signed. The two countries have been coordinating their efforts to fight terrorism through a Joint Working Group on Combating International Terrorism.
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