Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays homage to the bust of former Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, at the Shastri Memorial in Tashkent.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid floral tributes at the Shastri Memorial in Uzbekistan’s capital on Sunday (August 30, 2026), honouring the legacy of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri by planting a tree along with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Shastri, India’s second Prime Minister, suddenly died in the Uzbek capital on January 11, 1966, just hours after signing the historic Tashkent Declaration to end the 1965 Indo-Pakistan War.
His “timeless call of ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ continues to inspire generations,” the Ministry of External Affairs said, adding that his “life embodied simplicity, courage and unwavering devotion to the nation.”
Shared commitment
Mr. Modi and Mr. Mirziyoyev also jointly planted a tree in the Presidential Palace garden under India’s ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ initiative and Uzbekistan’s ‘Yashil Makon’ green efforts, the MEA said in a post on X. “The gesture reflects the shared commitment of India and Uzbekistan towards nurturing a greener and more sustainable future,” it said.
The tree-planting ceremony came after the Prime Minister held delegation-level talks with the Uzbek President at the Kuksaroy Presidential Palace as part of his two-day state visit to Uzbekistan, with the two countries agreeing to elevate their bilateral Strategic Partnership to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, setting a bilateral trade target of $5 billion by 2030.
PM meets Indian diaspora
Mr. Mirziyoyev also conferred Uzbekistan’s highest honour for foreign leaders, the Oliy Darajali Do’stlik Order, on Mr. Modi for his contribution to strengthening friendship between the two countries.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Modi attended a yoga session hosted by the Yoga Federation of Uzbekistan and met members of the Indian community at a hotel in Tashkent. The Prime Minister is on the first leg of a two-nation visit that will next take him to Kyrgyzstan from August 31 to September 1 for the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit.
Published – August 30, 2026 08:59 pm IST
