Today, due to active cooperation between the national army and the people, our Armed Forces are becoming a reliable guarantor of development, peace and stability in the country, a true school of strength and courage.
All of us know and appreciate that in the most challenging years of the formation of our young state, our Armed Forces have served as a reliable guarantee of the independence of our country, the peaceful life and well-being of our people, as well as the successful implementation of democratic reforms.
Thanks to the comprehensive reforms, we have undertaken in recent years, in a historically short period of time we have succeeded in creating a fast and compact national army capable of reliably defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the inviolability of our borders.
Today, our army is physically, spiritually, scientifically prepared, has advanced knowledge, skills in using modern weapons and is ready to stand to any threats.
First of all, I would like to note that in a historically short period of time, a number of conceptual documents were adopted that defined the military policy of the Republic of Uzbekistan, allowing to increase the military power of the country and combat readiness of troops. These normative legal acts reflect the official views of the military-political leadership of the Republic of Uzbekistan on ensuring national security, including in the military sphere.
These documents include the Defense Doctrine of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan «About defense», «On universal military duty and military service», «On the state of emergency», «On combating terrorism», also the Development Program of Armed Forces, resolutions of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, international treaties in the field of military security and etc.
The defense doctrine is the conceptual basis for the development of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Uzbekistan and is purely defensive in nature. In addition, this document is open, which demonstrates the transparency of the defense policy of the New Uzbekistan, which is based on national legislation and international norms of law.
The defense policy of the Republic of Uzbekistan is based on the following principles:
Non-use of military force against other states, except in cases of intersection and repulse of military aggression;
The indivisibility of security, the inadmissibility of strengthening own security at the expense of the security of other states;
Non-interference in the internal affairs of other states, peaceful settlement of possible disputes;
Non-participation in the military political blocs, reserving the right to withdraw from any interstate entity in the event of its transformation into a military-political bloc;
Defense sufficiency;
Renunciation of the production, procurement, keeping, distribution and deployment of nuclear and other types of weapons of mass destruction;
Commitment to the principles of the Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia;
Preventing the deployment of foreign military bases and facilities on its territory;
Non-participation of the Armed Forces in peacekeeping operations and military conflicts abroad;
Reliance on the spiritual and moral values and cultural and civilizational identity of the nation.
It should be emphasized that the Republic of Uzbekistan pursues a peaceful and pragmatic military policy, which based on the norms of international law and national legislation of the country.
At the same time, within the framework of conceptual strategic documents (the Strategy for the Development of New Uzbekistan for 2022-2026, «Uzbekistan-2030») a set of measures is being implemented to increase military readiness and combat capability of troops.
In particular, large-scale work is being held on reform the Armed Forces of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the following areas:
Firstly, created military-administrative sectors that have no analogues in the world, which make it possible to strengthen the country's defense capabilities, patriotic education of young people and ensuring the unity of the army and the people.
Secondly, the system of training national military personnel has been reorganized and optimized based on the best practices of developed countries.
In particular, a new Military Institute of Information and Communication Technologies and Communications, the Institute of Military Aviation of the Republic of Uzbekistan and Medical Academy of the Armed Forces have been created, which are equipped with modern educational and material bases.
In addition, military academic lyceums «Temurbeklar Maktabi» and other specialized educational institutions have been formed, which have become training centers for future professional military personnel.
As a result of the measures taken to develop military science in the system of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Uzbekistan in recent years, the scientific potential of military personnel has increased from 4% to 57%.
Thirdly, the military-industrial complex is actively developing. The Defense Industry Agency has been established under the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The development and modernization of certain types of weapons and equipment localized.
Currently, Uzbekistan produces armored personnel carrier (APC) «Arslon», modernized armored vehicle «Tarlon-M», «Qalqon» and unmanned aerial vehicles «Lochin».
The «Arslon» APC is an eight-wheeled vehicle equipped with a state-of-the-art combat module, enabling it to execute combat missions efficiently, both during the day and at night. Additionally, it offers mine protection capable meets NATO standards, ensuring high international military specifications.
Over the past few years, the provision of troops with modern weapons and military equipment has been increased to 45%.
In general, as a result of successive reforms, the combat power of the Uzbek army has increased by 2 times.
Fourth, social support for military personnel and their family members are being intensifyed.
As part of the ongoing reforms, over the past five years, about 10 thousand military man have been provided with housing on preferential loans. The issues of employment and medical care for military personnel constantly are realizing.
Also, during 2018-2024, more than 6 thousand children of military personnel were given recommendations by the Ministry of Defense for admission to higher educational institutions on the basis of a state grant.
Besides, in the period 2021-2024, more than 6 thousand unemployed family members of military personnel were sent to vocational training centers (Mono-centers) to obtain a profession and employment.
Fifth, the Armed Forces have become an important institution and an effective force in educating the population of our country in the spirit of patriotism, especially the younger generation. As part of the implementation of the military-patriotic activity «Our National Army is our pride», the doors of military units were widely opened to the public, especially for young people.
At the same time, in order to familiarize young people with the national army reforms, military-patriotic and spiritual educational events such as «Commander and Youth», «General and Youth», «Meetings of three generations» are regularly is being held.
Sixth, military cooperation with foreign countries is an important element of strengthening the country's defense capability. Interaction with foreign partners is carried out based on annual Plans. In particular, military cooperation has been established with such countries as the USA, Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain, Azerbaijan, the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Belarus, the Republic of Korea, Turkey, China, India, the IRP, as well as within the framework of the CIS and the SCO.
Significant international military events are actively held in the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which also contribute to improving the image of the country and the national Armed Forces on the world stage.
So, in 2022-2024, on the territory of our country was held several events such as: а meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers CIS and a conference of the chiefs of general staffs of the Armed Forces of Central and South Asia. In 2024 alone, as part of the implementation of the concluded Plans for military cooperation, will be hold more than 400 joint events (for comparison: in 2021, the number of similar events amounted to about 300).
In recent years, thanks to the open constructive policy of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Central Asia, political dialogue and mutual trust have strengthened between the leaders of neighboring countries. As a result, the level of regional military and security cooperation has risen to a new stage.
In particular, at the consultative meeting of the heads of Central Asian States, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan proposed to hold regular meetings of the secretaries of the Security Councils of the states of the region. In accordance with this initiative, the first meeting of the secretaries of the Security Councils of the Central Asian states has already been held in Astana in May this year. Also, in order to effectively counter new challenges and threats, Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed to adopt the «Concept of ensuring regional security and stability», which confirms that Uzbekistan considers the region as a single indivisible security space.
In addition, Uzbekistan conducts bilateral and multilateral military drills with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, such as «Center», «Cooperation» etc. Also, as part of combat training, the Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) for the first time held joint military drills «Unification-2024» in the Mangystau region of Kazakhstan, which consolidated the trend of active military cooperation between countries of Central Asia.
Meanwhile, I would like to mention regional cooperation in the field of military education. If during the 2021-2024 academic years 28 military officer of Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic studied at higher military educational institutions of Uzbekistan, in 2024-2025 will be train and upgrade the qualifications 107 servicemen of neighboring countries.
Regional military cooperation is an important step towards strengthening security and stability in Central Asia.
In general, comprehensive military construction measures carried out under the direct supervision of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces contribute to strengthening the defense capability of Uzbekistan.
Without a doubt, the fundamental reforms carried out to modernize the national army contribute to ensuring the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country, the inviolability of borders, as well as the effective solution of tactical and strategic tasks to protect the peace and quiet life of our people.
Nabiyev Narimon,
Leading Researcher at the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan
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