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Central Asia Meet
This first India-Central Asia coincided with the 30th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Central Asian countries.
The summit came two days after a similar China-Central Asia Conference was held where China offered USD 500 million in assistance and pledged to ramp up trade to USD 70 billion from the present levels of about USD 40 billion a year.
Discussed the next steps in taking India-Central Asia relations to new heights. In a historic decision, the Leaders agreed to institutionalise the Summit mechanism by deciding to hold it every 2 years.
They also agreed on regular meetings of Foreign Ministers, Trade Ministers, Culture Ministers and Secretaries of the Security Council to prepare the groundwork for the Summit meetings.
An India-Central Asia Secretariat in New Delhi would be set up to support the new mechanism.
The summit is symbolic of the importance attached by the leaders of India and the Central Asian countries to a comprehensive and enduring India-Central Asia partnership.
It is being held at a critical juncture when tensions between the West and Russia and the United States (US) and China are rising. India too has faced geopolitical setbacks: Border tensions with China and the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
It follows President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India, which may have allowed India to push Russia to moderately balance China in Eurasia and to contain the threats from Afghanistan.
The recent unrest in Kazakhstan also showed that “new actors” are vying for influence in the region though their motives are still not clear.
India has always maintained excellent diplomatic ties with all the five Central Asian states, Indian PMs including Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015, have visited them. Yet, India’s trade with them has been only at USD 1.4 billion in 2019.
In 2017, India joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to engage with the region. But SCO is only a sluice gate to regulate the Russian and Chinese subliminal rivalry to prevent either power from dominating the region.
The summit is a massive stride for India’s diplomacy. Since the region is a critical lynchpin to India’s security policy, the summit will have a waterfall impact to facilitate India’s multifaceted approach towards the region.