Berlin: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday left for Uzbekistan on a two-day trip during which energy and economic cooperation will be high on the agenda.
In Tashkent, the Prime Minister will hold talks with Uzbek President Islam Karimov and discuss enhancement of cooperation in various fields, particularly energy.
Agreements in the energy sector besides pacts in education and research are expected to be firmed up during the visit, Indian officials said.
Uzbekistan has large gas reserves which are unexplored and India is interested in collaborating in this field.
The discussions will involve India's interest in transit to Central Asia via Afghanistan and Iran. The construction of Zaranj-Delaram Highway in Afghanistan is being built by India with this intention in mind.
India is also interested in a proposed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan gas pipeline.
In Uzbekistan, the Prime Minister will inaugurate an IT Centre named after India's first prime minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
During the visit, Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) is expected to sign an agreement with its counterpart.
Delhi University will also sign an agreement with Tashkent State University.
India and Uzbekistan have joint working group on terrorism which last met last year.
The two sides will discuss cooperation in IT sector in which Uzbekistan is one of the largest beneficiaries of India's talent.
Singh rounded off his two-day visit on a positive note with German Chancellor Angela Merkel indicating support to the Indo-US civil nuclear deal at the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
"The Prime Minister's visit has been exceptionally successful," Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters.
He said the two countries have agreed that their strategic partnership should be of global level.
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