Uzbekistan announces 30-day visa-free regime for Indian travellers
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The two countries have also signed a Tourism Cooperation Programme for 2026–2028, aimed at expanding tourist exchanges, strengthening cooperation in the tourism sector and developing new joint projects.
Uzbekistan has announced a 30-day visa-free regime for citizens of India, in a move expected to give a significant boost to tourist flows, bilateral travel and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.
The announcement came during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Uzbekistan on August 29–30, where he held talks with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on strengthening bilateral cooperation across multiple sectors, including tourism.
According to Uzbekistan’s Tourism Committee, the two countries have also signed a Tourism Cooperation Programme for 2026–2028, aimed at expanding tourist exchanges, strengthening cooperation in the tourism sector and developing new joint projects.
The programme envisages a broader tourism engagement between the two countries, including the organisation of mutual cultural weeks, film festivals and other major tourism-related events, besides the development of new joint tourist routes. The Uzbek government said the 30-day visa-free regime is expected to play an important role in increasing tourist flows between Uzbekistan and India and further expanding bilateral tourism cooperation.
The move comes at a time when air connectivity between the two countries is also strengthening. According to the Office of the President of Uzbekistan, India and Uzbekistan are currently connected by 14 direct flights a week, with the Uzbek leadership noting that the combination of visa-free travel and increased connectivity would contribute to the development of tourism.
Adding another layer of convenience for Indian visitors, NPCI International Payments Ltd. (NIPL), the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India, has entered into a commercial agreement with Uzbekistan’s National Interbank Processing Centre (NIPC), the operator of the country’s national payment system HUMO. The partnership enables Indian travellers to use their UPI-enabled apps to scan Uzbekistan’s national UZQR codes and make instant merchant payments across the country. The agreement signed follows approvals. The facility is expected to make payments more seamless for Indian tourists, business travellers and students, while reducing dependence on cash and international cards.
Tourism was part of a wider package of agreements and cooperation initiatives announced during Modi’s visit. The two sides signed the 2026–2028 tourism cooperation programme along with agreements and memoranda covering other areas including culture, higher education and scientific research, traditional medicine, environmental protection, geology and mineral resources, economic and financial dialogue and archival cooperation.
(Source: Tourism Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan & Office of the President of Uzbekistan)
