Belarus and Uzbekistan Sign Intergovernmental Agreement on Military-Technical Cooperation Development

On 12–14 September 2018, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko was on an official visit to Uzbekistan.
Following the talks between Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, a package of bilateral documents was signed to expand cooperation in various fields and sectors.
In particular, an intergovernmental agreement on the development of military-technical cooperation was signed
“Today we’ve agreed that in addition to repairing and upgrading your hardware, aircraft and armoured vehicles we can set up relevant enterprises here and modernise military aircraft, armoured personnel carriers and combat tanks. There is a lot of military hardware of this kind in this region,” Alexander Lukashenko said.
Alexander Lukashenko stressed that Belarus has nothing to hide from Uzbekistan as far as security is concerned.
“If you are interested in our defence companies, they are open for you. If you need sophisticated command and control systems, we will make them. If necessary, we can make rocket systems for you. The President (of Uzbekistan – editor’s note) understands what kind of world we live in today and sets security and defence goals. If you are interested in our military schools and state security agencies, you are welcome to see them. We will hide no secrets from you,” the Belarusian leader said.
Alexander Lukashenko and Shavkat Mirziyoyev also issued a joint statement. The presidents expressed their satisfaction with the progressive enhancement of bilateral cooperation and confidence that the implementation of the agreements reached and the documents signed will contribute to further developing friendly relations between the countries and bringing them to a qualitatively new level.
Alongside Alexander Lukashenko’s visit, Tashkent hosted the Belarusian-Uzbek business and interregional cooperation forum. A large-scale Made in Belarus exhibition was held in the capital of Uzbekistan. More than 150 Belarusian organisations and companies participated in the event. The joint stand of Goscomvoyenprom and defence companies, which was organised by Beltechexport Company CJSC, exhibited both military products and consumer goods produced by Belarusian defence enterprises.