Wednesday, April 26 2006 15:16 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Tashkent: Uzbekistan today (Apr 26, 2006) expressed its willingness to allow Indian companies to explore gas in its territory and the extracts could be shared by the two countries on an equal basis.

After more than 90 minutes of meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Uzbekistan President Karimov also said that Uzbekistan resolutely supports India's candidature as a permanent member of expanded UN Security Council.

The two countries also signed a number of MoUs including in the field of gas exploration.

Addressing the joint press conference with Karimov, Singh said energy cooperation was high on the agenda of his talks with the Uzbek leader.

Karimov said, "Based on Uzbekistan's cooperation with countries like China, Malaysia, Russia and some members of European Union, it is willing to allow its territory to Indian companies to explore gas."

Findings by the Indian companies could be shared by the two sides on a fifty-fifty basis, he added.