Answer: Central Asia Region (CAR) comprises the five countries namely Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. India shares a long history of engagement with CAR as the Silk Road connecting India to Europe and China passed through Central Asia; and Kushans and Mughals originally belonged to the region. Under India’s independent foreign policy, the region forms a part of its extended neighbourhood. The significance of Central Asia for India can be understood in following terms:

• Trade and Economy:
  • CAR has abundant mineral resources which are yet to be exploited. For instance, Turkmenistan has the fourth largest reserves of natural gas, and therefore, can help India in diversifying its energy sources (TAPI pipeline).
  • The region has huge cultivable areas lying barren and without being put to any productive use. Uzbekistan alone offers an enormous opportunity for cultivation of pulses that can help India meet its domestic demands. Indian tea is also in high demand in Central Asia.
• Geo-strategic importance:
  • The region lies at the crossroads of Russia, the Middle East, South Asia and the Far East. It can provide India the overland routes to rich resources of Russia and Middle East, and significant energy supplies at relatively short distances. For instance, the INSTC corridor route is shorter than Suez route.
  • Due to their deep-rooted ties with Afghanistan, the region supports India’s view of non- interference of Pakistan in Afghanistan’s internal affairs.
  • Kazakhstan, one of the world’s largest producers of Uranium, supported India in obtaining India-specific exemption to allow civil nuclear cooperation with the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) countries.
• Security: This region potentially acts as a buffer to contain the fallout of fundamentalism. It can forestall encirclement by any regional or outside power, and insulate India from narco-terrorism.

Challenges in the development of India-Central Asian relationships:

• Poor connectivity: The adverse geographic terrain and the thorny India-Pakistan border dynamic greatly impede connectivity, thereby curbing greater economic cooperation between India and the region. The planned connectivity projects such as TAPI pipeline, Chabahar port, INSTC, etc. are facing delays because of such issues.
• Dominance of China: China, with its porous borders with Central Asia and ambitious projects like Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), has emerged as a dominant player in the region.
• Volatile security scenario: Instability in Afghanistan and Pakistan, concerns regarding confrontation between Iran and the United States, diminishes reliability and safety required for trade and commerce, which discourages investments.
• Internal dynamics: Delineation of borders by past leadership in the region overlooked many ethnic, tribal, linguistic, geographical, and even economic factors. Consequently, the post-Soviet era saw problems of governance, regulation of movement across the borders and many inter- state disputes.

Considering the importance of the region, India urged to focus on 4Cs: Commerce, Capacity Development, Connectivity and Contacts that encompass the contours of security and terrorism, trade and economy, development partnership, energy security, healthcare, and climate change at the recently held third ‘India-Central Asia Dialogue’.