Global

On October 23, the president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met in Baku with Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs of India. This was the highest level visit by an Indian official to Azerbaijan in a long time. According to the website of the Azerbaijani president, Aliyev fondly recalled his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bishkek and the exchange of views during that meeting. President Ilham Aliyev highly appreciated the visit of India’s Minister of External Affairs to Azerbaijan on the instructions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stressing its importance for discussing the current state and prospects of bilateral relations. During the meeting, the sides held an extensive exchange of views on the current state of relations between Azerbaijan and India, highlighting ample opportunities to develop cooperation in areas of mutual interest. The sides noted that Azerbaijan and India, as members of the Global South, share similar positions on a number of issues on the international agenda, including matters of concern to countries of the Global South. In this regard, they discussed prospects for bilateral cooperation in political, trade and economic, high-tech, cultural, humanitarian and other fields. The conversation also touched upon the importance of cooperation within international organizations. The sides emphasized the need to intensify political contacts and organize reciprocal visits at various levels, including exchanges involving economic and business delegations, to further advance bilateral relations.

In recent days, Uzbekistan welcomed the Chinese and American governments in quick succession. During Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s visit on 17-18 October, the Uzbek presidential administration said that joint projects backed by firm agreements had reached nearly $60 billion. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio then arrived in Samarkand for C5+1 talks, accompanied at the time by American business leaders seeking contracts, particularly in critical minerals. During the visit, Uzbekistan announced 54 agreements covering trade, investment, and technology. The agreements are said to be worth a total of $12 billion, according to Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade. However, China still accounts for 23% of Uzbekistan’s foreign trade in January-August 2026, while US goods trade with Uzbekistan totalled at $1.05 billion in 2025, which is less than a fifteenth of the value of its trade with China. Rubio said Washington was not asking Central Asian countries to stop cooperating with other partners, but would instead compete for investment. Tashkent is likely to welcome investment from both sides, but the trade gap shows how challenging it will be if it were to decrease its dependence on Beijing. “Chinese Premier Li Qiang visited Uzbekistan on October 17–18, just ahead of United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who arrived in Samarkand on October 18 with a delegation of American business leaders seeking new contracts. While China already has a substantial presence in Uzbek manufacturing and energy, Washington is seeking to expand American involvement in critical minerals and technology. The visits highlight the growing competition between the world’s two largest economies for influence in Central Asia. On October 17, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev received Li Qiang. According to the Uzbek presidential administration, the portfolio of joint projects backed by firm agreements has reached nearly $60 billion. More than 6,000 joint ventures with Chinese participation have been established in Uzbekistan. (...) Construction of the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway was another topic of discussion. Work officially began in December 2024. The route will cross mountainous areas of Kyrgyzstan and connect the railway networks of China and Uzbekistan. The 304-kilometer section through Kyrgyzstan alone is estimated to cost $4.7 billion and will require 50 bridges and 29 tunnels. (...) On October 19, Rubio attended talks in Samarkand under the C5+1 format, bringing together the U.S. and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Rubio said nearly 300 American businesses were represented in Samarkand. Companies were discussing agreements potentially worth billions of dollars, with concrete announcements expected following the meetings. Among Washington’s priorities are critical minerals used in advanced technologies, including electronics and batteries.”