Geopolitical Chess: India Bolsters Central Asia Relations, PM Modi to Lead from Front

National News: The global geopolitical scenario is witnessing a lot of upheaval due to the Russia-Ukraine war, which is likely to have a direct impact on the Central Asian countries as well. At such a time, India is going to take a strategic initiative and further strengthen its multilateral relations with five major countries of Central Asia—Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. The foreign ministers of these countries are coming to India to participate in the India-Central Asia ministerial dialogue to be held in New Delhi on June 6. This meeting is not only a part of formal dialogue, but it will have in-depth discussions on important topics like economic cooperation, energy partnership, regional connectivity, security and common strategy against terrorism.

The whole world is also eyeing this initiative of India because India's closeness with these countries will not only help in maintaining geopolitical balance, but it can also prove to be an important step towards balancing the influence of countries like China and Pakistan. Also, strategic talks on Iran's Chabahar port will be a part of this dialogue, which will help India to establish direct and uninterrupted trade links to the Central Asian region.

India's diplomatic activism will increase in the shadow of the Ukraine crisis

The Russia-Ukraine war has increased the possibility of regional instability, and it can also affect the Central Asian countries. In such a situation, India is going to hold strategic dialogue on issues like economic cooperation, energy security, connectivity and terrorism to strengthen its relations with these countries. Not only the neighboring countries but also the global powers are keeping an eye on this meeting.

Dialogue has been going on since 2019, now there will be a new expansion

India had started a separate dialogue process with these five Central Asian countries from the year 2019. In the last two years, many new avenues of mutual cooperation have opened between the two sides. Now India is trying to turn this dialogue into practical cooperation, not just diplomatic - especially with solidarity on the issue of terrorism.

Unity on terrorism, Azerbaijan's role becomes a challenge

After the Pahalgam attack in Kashmir, India has become active in gathering international support. The support of Islamic countries of Central Asia is also important because Azerbaijan, a country in this region, has been seen standing in favor of Pakistan instead of India. Azerbaijan has indicated in the past years that it will stand with Pakistan strategically. In this background, India is moving towards stronger relations with the rest of the Central Asian countries.

Will meet PM Modi, discussion on Chabahar port too

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, after the meeting, the foreign ministers of all the five countries will also make a courtesy call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During this, there will also be an important discussion on the Chabahar port located in Iran. India wants to build a road and rail network to connect this port with Central Asia, so that trade contacts can be direct and uninterrupted.