View: Reconnecting India with Central Asia

The relationship is moving within the ambit of 4Cs — underscoring commerce, capacity building, connectivity, and contact — that encompass the contours of security and terrorism, trade and economy, development partnership, energy security, healthcare, and climate change. The objectives can be predicated on 3Cs — Connectivity unhindered; Counter-Terrorism unabated; and Critical commerce and supplies unimpeded both ways. These imply strategies to overcome the hiatuses caused by strategic rivals like China and Pakistan with their Afghan conduit. How to ensure these under the given geopolitical and geo-economic contestations is a challenge which need to be countered perhaps in collaboration with regional powers like Russia and Iran.

India’s focus on developing defense and security ties even more is evident from the fact that we have Defense Attaches in all the five countries. Current levels of trade at $2 billion is low compared to the Chinese and others. However, India has extended a Line of Credit of $1 billion to help expand ties across the spectrum from defense and security including energy and TAPI , minerals like Uranium to infra to trade, healthcare, services sector including ITCT and Fintech and developmental projects in C5 — which if efficiently deployed with time bound delivery targets could be a game changer . Greater investments in Chabahar port and its integration with the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) as well as Free Trade Agreement with the EAEU (Eurasian Economic Union) could provide the requisite connectivity until such time that Afghanistan is stabilised.

Central Asia will remain a zone of competition among Russia, West (including US and EU) , China, Turkey, Iran and India — be it geo political, geo economic or geo religious contestation. What happened in Kazakhstan is a mere trailer or a snippet of what are the real fault lines of the CARs. Colour Revolutions are not yet passé in the region. C5 are Going through a churn and turmoil. Terrorism and Extremism is well ensconced and with onset of Taliban is far more accentuated. Youth bulge and uneven distribution of wealth and unmet expectations combined with high level corruption have been the causes of public unrest and need to be addressed by the respective leadership with right kind of inclusive reforms. Regional stability and reliable connectivity will be directly dependent on popular satisfaction and support.

Competition is the key underlying dimension of the region since they achieved independence in 1990s post demise of Soviet Union. This has been displayed in competition for influence — Russia’s backyard which was recently reasserted during the Kazakh crisis when Moscow sent in peacekeepers under the rubric of CSTO. The West, especially the US looking for help in its ‘Over the horizon’ advent in Afghanistan from where its hasty exit has created more problems for CARs. China ( having long borders ) remains a geo economic giant with its expanding BRI footprint and quest for energy and minerals. Region also remains a geo religious contestation for Turkey (Including Turkic identity), Pakistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Afghanistan has become an important pivot for nearly all the external actors in the region.

China’s severe debt burden and aggressive approaches as well as Uyghurs issue all have the potential for it backsliding in the game but for that credible economic alternatives and security choices have to emerge. As of now Russia-China provide it. Hopefully India will find a way to provide the third alternative which C5 are looking for.