Abstract:
Widespreading the Start-up Movement EDII envisions advocating the strategy of institution-building for forging entrepreneurship as an International Movement, Set up Entrepreneurship Development Centres (EDCs)in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam including centres in Arab and African Regions, Recently inaugurated the India-Uzbekistan Entrepreneurship Development Centre (lUEDC) as a part of the MoU signed between the Governments of India and Uzbekistan, Earned accolades and support from the World Bank, Commonwealth Secretariat, UNIDO, ILO, FNSt, British Council, Ford Foundation, European Union, ASEAN Secretariat, etc.
Uzbekistan and India share historical connections for several thousand years. The southern and south-eastern regions of modern-day Uzbekistan were part of the Kushana Empire. Relics of Buddhist monasteries have been discovered in Samarkand, Termez and other Uzbek cities. Samarkand, Bukhara and Fergana were important cities on India's trade route with Europe and China.
Bilateral high-level exchanges have been taking place since the Soviet times. Several presidential and prime ministerial visits to Uzbekistan have taken place starting from Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's visit in 1955. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri passed away in Tashkent during his visit in January 1966. A street and a school are named after him. A statue and a bust also stands erected in Tashkent in honour ofShri Lal Bahadur Shastri. A street named after Mahatma Gandhi is a famous landmark in the capital city of Tashkent.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi paid a bilateral visit to Uzbekistan in 2015 and visited Tashkent for the SCO Council of Heads of States meeting in 2016, when India signed the Memorandum of Obligations for joining the SCO. President of Uzbekistan H.E. Mr. Shavkat Mirziyoyev was on a visit to India from 30th September - 1st October 2018. He was also the Chief Guest at Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit held on 17th and 18th January 2019.
