Hope India-Uzbek ties will gain strength: President

President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday extended his greetings to the Republic of Uzbekistan on the eve of its Independence Day and expressed confidence that bilateral relations with the Central Asian nation would continue to grow.

In a message to Islam Karimov, the President of Uzbekistan, Mukherjee said, "It is with great pleasure that I extend warm greetings and felicitations to you and to the friendly people of Uzbekistan on the occasion of your 25th Independence Day."

He said that during the last 25 years, Uzbekistan has made great strides of progress.

In June this year, Uzbekistan hosted the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tashkent where India signed the historic Memorandum of Obligations towards membership of SCO.

"Our two countries are bound by our close historical and cultural linkages built over centuries of continuous interaction between our peoples. I am confident that the India-Uzbekistan strategic partnership will continue to grow from strength to strength in the coming years," Mukherjee said in his message.

--IANS

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