JOIN USModi holds talks with Central Asian leaders to offset strategic edge for China and Pakistan
India on Thursday moved to deepen its ties with the Central Asian nations to offset the strategic edge Pakistan and its “iron brother” China might seek to gain in the region taking advantage of the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a virtual summit with the leaders of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan – just two days after Chinese President Xi Jinping also had a video-conference with them and had announced a $ 500 million grant assistance to support livelihood programmes in the five countries.
Modi, however, did not announce any new package of economic assistance during his summit with the Central Asian leaders. They, however, discussed implementing the $ 1 billion Line of Credit (LoC), which New Delhi had offered in October 2020 to support development of infrastructure in the five countries.
The Prime Minister and the leaders of the five Central Asian nations agreed that the senior officials of the six nations would regularly hold consultations on Afghanistan. They also agreed that India would also hold regular joint counter-terrorism exercises with the interested nations in the region.
New Delhi moved to deepen its engagement with the five former Soviet Union nations amid escalating tension between Moscow and Washington DC over Russia’s troop build-up near its border with Ukraine. Modi on December 6 hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin, who earlier this month reasserted his nation’s role as a security provider for the Central Asian region by sending troops to help quell the uprising against the government in Kazakhstan.
“We all have the same concerns and objectives for regional security. We are all concerned about the developments in Afghanistan,” Modi said, during he virtual summit with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, President Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyz Republic, President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov of Turkmenistan and President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan. “Our mutual cooperation has become even more important for regional security and stability.”
The virtual summit saw Modi and the leaders of the five Central Asian nations agreeing to set up a joint working group on Afghanistan, comprising senior officials of the six governments.
They also agreed to set up another Joint Working Group with officials of the six governments to utilize the services of Shahid Beheshti Terminal at Chabahar Port in Iran.
The India Ports Global Limited has taken over port operations at the Shaheed Behesti Port in Chabahar in December 2018 and has been handling cargo since then. The port opens up a sea-land connectivity between India and Afghanistan as well as Central Asia and beyond, bypassing Pakistan. Afghanistan had also started using the port facility to send its first export consignment to India early 2020.
New Delhi has been reaching out to the five Central Asian nations ever since President Ashraf Ghani’s government in Kabul collapsed on August 15 last year and the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan almost two decades after being dislodged by the offensive launched by the United States in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks by the Al Qaeda.
With its proxy back in power in Kabul, Pakistan has been trying to gain its much-cherished strategic depth in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s “iron-brother” China has also been trying to take advantage of the United States’ withdrawal and the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, even as the communist country’s relations with India hit a new low over the 22-month-long military stand-off along the disputed boundary between the two nations in eastern Ladakh.
Modi’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval hosted his counterparts from the five Central Asian nations as well as Iran and Russia on November 10 to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also hosted his counterparts from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan in New Delhi from December 18 to 20 for the third dialogue between India and Central Asia.
New Delhi had plans to host the leaders of the Central Asian nations as the Chief Guests in the Republic Day ceremony. The plan was dropped in view of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Prime Minister and the Central Asian leaders, however, agreed to hold such summits once every two years, apart from institutionalizing other high-level engagements.
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