According to the Ministry of External Affairs of India, approximately sixteen thousand Indian students are currently studying in Uzbekistan. The majority of these students specialize in medical fields. This information was provided by Sibi George, the Secretary for Western Affairs at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.
Following meetings between President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Tashkent, both sides agreed to expand educational cooperation. This cooperation will include the exchange of students and teachers, joint scientific research, and the development of direct ties between universities of the two countries.
Sibi George also conveyed that Narendra Modi presented the Uzbek side with information about GIFT City—a specialized financial technology center located in the Indian state of Gujarat. India is interested in attracting campuses of foreign universities to this center. The MFA representative noted the possibility of a delegation from Uzbekistan visiting India to study this issue in detail.
A project for creating an International University Town is under development in Tashkent, which will include branches of leading domestic and foreign universities, as well as academic campuses and dormitories. When working on this project, it was suggested to consider the experience of Education City in Qatar, the International Academic City in Dubai, and the Global Campus in Incheon.
According to Sibi George, strengthening educational ties could potentially lead to the creation of new jobs.
During Narendra Modi's visit, an initiative was announced to provide one hundred scholarships named after the former Indian Prime Minister Lala Bahadur Shastri. These scholarships are intended for Hindi language studies by students from Uzbekistan and are established in memory of the former Prime Minister on the 60th anniversary of his death in Tashkent. Additionally, a Sanskrit department is planned to be opened at the Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies with the support of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).
The Indian side emphasized that expanding educational interaction aligns with the strategic plans of both countries: the 'Uzbekistan - 2030' program and India's goals of becoming a developed nation by 2047.
According to data from the National Agency for Quality Assurance in Education, 24,647 foreign students are studying at universities in Uzbekistan, representing over fifty countries. More than half of them, specifically 13,060 people, are citizens of India. Other nationalities represented include students from Turkmenistan (4,884 people), Pakistan (1,165 people), and Kazakhstan (1,129 people).
Medicine is the most in-demand field among international students, with 16,476 students studying it, accounting for about 67% of the total number of international students. The largest number of international students study at Tashkent State Medical University (4,155 people) and Samarkand State Medical University (4,153 people). A significant number of students also study at the National Research University 'TIIMSKh' (2,886 people), Bukhara State Medical Institute (2,178 people), and the National University of Uzbekistan (1,917 people).
This agency's data is based on the HEMIS information system and reflects the number of foreign students registered in educational institutions.
According to the National Committee on Statistics, between January and June 2026, 21,042 foreign nationals entered Uzbekistan for educational purposes. This figure significantly exceeds the number for the same period last year, increasing by 2.2 times, or by 11,500 people. The main flow of students comes from Turkmenistan (9,207 people), followed by India (3,723 people), Tajikistan (1,915 people), China (951 people), Kyrgyzstan (834 people), Pakistan (689 people), Egypt (603 people), South Korea (526 people), the Philippines (367 people), and the USA (302 people).
In the first seven months (January-July), the number of Indian citizens who arrived in Uzbekistan for study was 3,853 people. During the same period, 44 people traveled from Uzbekistan to India for study. Furthermore, 32,462 tourists from India visited Uzbekistan in January-July, and 12,003 Uzbek citizens made tourist trips to India.
It is important to note that the data from the Indian MFA pertains to the total number of Indian students studying in Uzbekistan, whereas Uzbekistan's statistics only record the number of Indian citizens who arrived in the country for educational purposes during a specific time frame.
