Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Thursday. (ANI)
New Delhi: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads to Uzbekistan, deepening defence cooperation is very much on the table.
Closer military ties with Tashkent could give New Delhi greater strategic depth in a region where its interests are growing, but its physical access remains constrained.
During a special media briefing here Thursday ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Uzbekistan on August 29-30, Sibi George, Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs, noted India already has a defence engagement with Uzbekistan that has been going on for some time.
He noted that during the Prime Minister’s visit, the two sides would review cooperation and look forward to “enhancing the engagement “in a host of areas including defence.
“We set up an institutional mechanism of a joint working group on defence in 2019,” George said. “And then, the last meeting held earlier this year explored new avenues of cooperation in the defence industrial domain.”
He said that India and Uzbekistan regularly participate in the joint annual military exercises, DUSTLIK, the seventh edition of which was conducted in Uzbekistan in April this year.
“There has been considerable interaction between the defence industries of both countries, with participation of delegation from the Defence Industry Agency of Uzbekistan participating in AERO-India in 2025,” he said.
India’s effort to deepen defence cooperation with Uzbekistan reflects a larger geopolitical reality: Central Asia can no longer be viewed merely as Russia’s traditional sphere of influence.
China’s expanding presence, Afghanistan’s unresolved security challenges and the growing competition over connectivity and strategic influence have made the region increasingly important to India.
Uzbekistan occupies a strategically important position at the heart of Central Asia.
It shares borders with all four other Central Asian states as well as Afghanistan, making its security environment closely connected with developments in Afghanistan and the wider Eurasian region.
For India, stronger defence ties with Tashkent provide an avenue for greater engagement with a region that has become increasingly important to Indian foreign and security policy. Central Asia sits at the intersection of Russian, Chinese, Iranian, Turkish and Western strategic interests.
The region has also become more important because of concerns surrounding terrorism, violent extremism, drug trafficking, border security and instability emanating from Afghanistan.
India and Uzbekistan therefore have considerable convergence in their emphasis on counter-terrorism and preventing extremist networks from gaining space.
George noted India also has strong counter-terrorism cooperation with Uzbekistan under the joint working group established.
“The ninth joint working group meeting was held in Tashkent last year, and India and Uzbekistan also cooperate in the Central Asia format, which reviews regional security challenges, advance counter-terrorism and tech cooperation, and continue the dialogue framework launched in 2022,” George said.
The focus of DUSTLIK on joint operations against unlawful armed groups reflects this common security concern.
The security situation in and around Afghanistan is particularly relevant to both countries.
Uzbekistan has a direct border with Afghanistan, while India has long been concerned about terrorism and extremist networks operating from or through the region.
Defence cooperation consequently serves as a mechanism for sharing operational experience, intelligence perspectives and counter-terrorism practices.
Exercises involving special operations, surveillance, reconnaissance and joint planning can help both sides prepare for security challenges that are difficult to address through conventional military capabilities alone.
For India, maintaining close security relationships with Central Asian states also provides a better understanding of developments in Afghanistan and their possible implications for India’s wider security environment.
The growing India-Uzbekistan relationship should not be viewed simply as an attempt to counter any single third country. Both New Delhi and Tashkent maintain relationships with Russia and China and have strong interests in preserving strategic autonomy.
Nevertheless, the geopolitical competition surrounding Central Asia makes India’s deeper engagement with Uzbekistan strategically valuable.
China has expanded its economic, infrastructure and security footprint across Central Asia, while Russia remains a historically influential military and political actor. Uzbekistan, meanwhile, has pursued a multi-vector foreign policy designed to preserve room for manoeuvre among competing major powers.
India’s approach fits naturally into this environment. Rather than seeking a formal alliance, New Delhi can strengthen bilateral military and security partnerships while respecting Uzbekistan’s strategic autonomy.
This is consistent with India’s broader approach to Central Asia: building multiple partnerships rather than allowing the region’s strategic space to be dominated by any one external power.
Defence cooperation also has a wider geopolitical dimension because India’s physical access to Central Asia is constrained by geography.
Pakistan’s geographical position has traditionally complicated India’s overland connectivity with the region. This makes relationships with countries such as Uzbekistan particularly important for developing alternative diplomatic, economic and security linkages.
The broader connectivity agenda – including India’s engagement with Iran and the Chabahar route – gains additional strategic relevance in this context. A stronger India-Uzbekistan relationship can complement India’s efforts to establish more reliable links with Central Asia while reducing its dependence on routes controlled or influenced by competing regional actors.
Defence diplomacy can therefore reinforce economic and connectivity diplomacy.
There is also an important economic dimension to closer defence cooperation.
India has increasingly sought to expand defence exports and establish itself as a supplier of military equipment, platforms and technologies. Uzbekistan, with its own defence modernisation requirements, could become a potential market as well as a partner for industrial cooperation.
The existing engagement between defence industries provides a foundation for this.
Uzbekistan’s participation at Aero India 2025, a biennial air show and aviation exhibition held in Bengaluru and organised by the Ministry of Defence, demonstrated interest in India’s growing defence-industrial capabilities.
The timing of Modi’s Uzbekistan visit is also significant because it comes immediately before the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit to be held in Kyrgyzstan on September 1.
India and Uzbekistan are both members of the organisation, making Central Asian security issues part of a wider multilateral framework.
The SCO provides a platform for India to engage simultaneously with Central Asian states, Russia and China on issues including terrorism, regional security and connectivity.
Deepening bilateral defence ties with Uzbekistan can consequently strengthen India’s ability to pursue its security interests within the SCO without becoming overly dependent on any single regional relationship.
According to Ruchika Sharma, Research Associate at the Udaipur-based Usanas Foundation think tank, defence cooperation between India and Uzbekistan forms one of the significant pillars of their bilateral relationship.
“For India, Uzbekistan offers an important gateway to Central Asia and a partner on regional security, especially in addressing security threats emanating from Afghanistan and Pakistan, including the presence of Islamic State of Khorasan,” Sharma told ETV Bharat.
“The seventh edition of the joint DUSTLIK exercise held in April this year, aimed at improvising interoperability and counter-terrorism capabilities, indicated that India is positioning itself as a capacity-building partner.”
Sharma said this defence cooperation will provide Uzbekistan with an opportunity to benefit from India’s growing defence-industrial capabilities.
“This cooperation will act as an instrument through which India can build strategic trust and strengthen its presence in Central Asia,” Sharma added.