Context:

As India cements its position as one of the fastest-growing major economies of the world, its increased engagement with the Central Asian region can lead to mutually beneficial gains — both in economic and strategic terms.

Background:

• India-Central Asia relations stagnated in the 20th century, due to the Anglo-Russian rivalry in the “Great Game”.
• The Great Game, also known as ‘BolshayaIgra’, which started in 1830 was an intense rivalry between British and Russian empires over Central Asia and the trade routes.

Central Asian Nations

• Central Asia is a landlocked region, which is located in the heart of Asia.
• Central Asia is composed of the 5 post-soviet countries (also known as 5 ‘Stans’): Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

Central Asia assumes significance for India

• Geostrategic location: Its geographical proximity, strategic location, and historical linkages make it an important partner for New Delhi.
• Energy: Central Asia is significant for India as it has an abundance of oil and gas deposits.
• Global power hub: Strategically, Central Asia is emerging as the next high-stakes competition ground for global powers.
• Significant transportation hub: Central Asia is a major transportation hub for gas and oil pipelines and multi-modal corridors connecting China, Russia, Europe, and the IOR.
• Some multilateral platforms in which India is a party along with CARs countries.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

• SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organization, created in 2001 in Shanghai (China) by Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
• The SCO currently comprises eight Member States (China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan), four Observer States interested in acceding to full membership (Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia), and six “Dialogue Partners” (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Turkey).

Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA)

• CICA is an inter-governmental forum for enhancing cooperation towards promoting peace, security, and stability in Asia.
• CICA members consist of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, China, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Egypt, Mongolia, Pakistan, Palestine, South Korea, Russia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
• The region contains vast hydrocarbon fields both on-shore and off-shore in the Caspian Sea which homes around 4 percent of the world’s natural gas reserves and approximately 3 percent of oil reserves.
  • Gas in Turkmenistan
  • Oil, gas, and uranium in Kazakhstan
  • Uranium and gas in Uzbekistan
  • Hydropower in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.