Tashkent: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday paid floral tributes at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial in Tashkent, marking the 60th anniversary of the former Prime Minister’s death in the Uzbek capital in 1966.
The memorial stands on a street named after Shastri, whose legacy continues to be remembered in Tashkent. A local school and the Indian Cultural Centre in the city are also named after him.
Modi later visited Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies, where he was received by Uzbek Prime Minister and the university rector. He interacted with Indologists and scholars at the university’s Mahatma Gandhi Centre.
The university is marking 80 years of Hindi teaching this year and has a strong tradition of teaching Hindi and other Indian subjects. During his visit, Modi announced the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hindi Scholarship for Uzbek students.
Highlighting the close cultural ties between India and Uzbekistan, officials noted that more than 3,000 words are common to Hindi and Uzbek.
