India's Modi Requests Uzbekistan to Expedite Uranium Supply Contract

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi requested Uzbek President Islam Karimov to fast-track supplies of Uzbek uranium on Monday, while unveiling other investment projects.

TASHKENT/NEW DELHI (Sputnik) – India signed a deal with Uzbekistan’s NMMC mining company in August 2014 for the supply of 2,000 metric tonnes of Uranium ore concentrate into 2018.

"We discussed steps leading to implement the contract of supply of uranium from Uzbekistan signed earlier," Modi said at a joint press conference in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent.

Modi told reporters he briefed Karimov of the International North-South Transport Corridor – a cost-cutting route spanning Russia, India, Iran and Central Asia – urging the Uzbek leader to consider membership in the project.

According to Karimov’s press service, the two leaders have also signed cultural and tourism cooperation documents as part of a wider investment program, stepping up direct contacts between the two countries’ respective industry workers.

The Central and South Asian leaders also touched on the security situation in neighboring Afghanistan, expressing the importance of restoring peace and stability in the country.

Modi wrapped up the first leg of his Central Asian tour in Tashkent on Monday – taking him to Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on July 6-13.

The Indian prime minister is set to redirect his tour on July 8-10 to visit the southwest Russian city of Ufa hosting the summits of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the BRICS group.