India - Central Asia Relation

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  • India was among the first countries to recognize the five Central Asian states.
  • It established diplomatic relations with them after they gained independence in 1990s. India now considers the Central Asian countries as part of its 'extended and strategic neighbourhood’.
  • At present the five Central Asian republics account for trade of only about $2 billion with India.
  • It is less as compared to about $50 billion with China that has made them a key to its Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) initiative.
Strategic Location
  • Geographically, the location of these countries makes them a bridge between different regions of Asia and between Europe and Asia.
  • CARs share borders with China, Afghanistan, Russia and Iran. Tajikistan is located in proximity to the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
  • India’s only foreign military airbase is in Farkhor (Tajikistan), which is operated by IAF and Tajik Air Force.
Agriculture
  • Central Asia has huge cultivable areas lying barren and without being put to any productive use. Uzbekistan alone offers an enormous opportunity for cultivation of pulses. Indian agribusiness companies can setup commercial agro-industrial complexes in Central Asia.
Energy security:
  • The countries of Central Asia are endowed with significant hydrocarbon and mineral resources and are close to India geographically.
  • Kazakhstan is the largest producer of Uranium and has huge gas and oil reserves as well.
  • Uzbekistan is an important regional producer of gold along with Kyrgyzstan. Recently, India and Uzbekistan signed a deal for long-term supply of uranium. After Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan will become the second Central Asian country to supply uranium to India.
  • Tajikistan has vast hydropower potential besides oil deposits, and Turkmenistan has the fourth largest gas reserves of the world. (Introduce TAPI Pipeline, but still lagging).
  • Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan — are also in the Caspian littoral, thereby promising to open the door to other energy-rich Caspian states.
Security:
  • The withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan will have severe regional security implications.
  • CARs face serious threat from illegal drug trade emanating from ‘Golden Crescent’ of opium production (Iran-Pak-Afghan) and are also victims of illegal arms trade.
  • Instability in Central Asia can spill over to PoK.
  • Further, religious extremism, fundamentalism and terrorism continue to pose challenges to Central Asian societies as well as regional stability.
  • Trade and Investment potential.
India-Central Asia Dialogue
  • India holds this dialogue with five Central Asian countries Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and the Kyrgyz Republic.
    • All the countries participating in the dialogue, except for Turkmenistan, are also members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
  • The 1st meeting of the India-Central Asia Dialogue held in January 2019 in Samarkand (Uzbekistan).
  • Also, Afghanistan attended the 1st and 2nd meetings as a special invitee.
  • The dialogue provides a platform for strengthening cooperation between India and the Central Asian countries in political, security, economic and commercial, development partnership, humanitarian and cultural spheres as well as exchanging views on regional and international issues of mutual interest and enhancing cooperation under the framework of UN and other multilateral fora.
India’s efforts to connect with the region
Connect Central Asia Policy: Launched in 2012 it includes
  • Strong political relations through the exchange of high-level visits and multilateral engagements
  • Strategic and security cooperation through military training, regular intelligence sharing, counterterrorism coordination and close consultations on Afghanistan.
  • Long term partnership in energy and natural resources.
  • Helping to provide a viable banking infrastructure in the region.
  • Increase presence of Indian firms in CARs in construction and power sector.
  • Improve connectivity through INSTC, air services, people to people and cultural exchanges.
Initiatives by India to strengthen ties
  • Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
  • International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
  • Development of Chabahar port in Iran.
  • Ashgabat Agreement.
  • Provision of US $ 1 billion Line of Credit: by India for priority developmental projects in fields such as connectivity, energy, IT, healthcare, education, agriculture etc. in Central Asia.
  • Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI): It is the proposed natural gas pipeline that runs from Galkynysh field (Turkmenistan) – Herat – Kandahar – Multan - Fazilika (Pak-India Border).
  • Eurasian Economic Union (EEU): India is negotiating a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union, which include Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.
  • Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme is also an effective instrument under which young professionals of these countries undergo training and human capacity development. (Skill development to Other country by India).
  • High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDP): Under these projects India provides Grant assistance for furthering socio-economic development.
  • India-Central Asia Business Council (ICABC): It was launched in February 2020 and comprises the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and chambers of commerce from the 5 central Asian countries.
TAPI Pipeline
North - South Transport Corridor

Way Forward
  • India should leverage its soft power and its ready acceptability in Central Asia to strengthen bilateral ties.
  • India should leverage the historical, cultural and civilizational bonds as well as traditionally close people to-people contacts to build its Central Asia partnership.
  • India has ability to curtail counter extremist influences effectively, despite having a huge diversity offers an example for central Asian countries to replicate.
  • Further private sector participation also must be encouraged through trade fairs and organizing single country trade fairs in major commercial and industrial centres of these countries.
  • India’s Connect Central Asia Policy also has a forward-looking orientation which at the same time promotes India’s geo-strategic as well as geo-economic interests in the region.

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