On December 6, top security officials from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan arrived in New Delhi for the first India-Central Asia meeting of national security advisors. Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval highlighted the India-Central Asia relationship, emphasizing their common shared interests, such as stabilizing the security situation in Afghanistan and reinforcing territorial integrity. 

The meeting came 10 months after the first-ever India-Central Asia summit, which reignited the momentum to develop a burgeoning India-Central Asia relationship.

In January 2022, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over the India-Central Asia Summit with all five Central Asian heads of state present. The virtual meeting demonstrated India’s commitment to its “Extended Neighborhood Policy,” which calls for New Delhi to diversify its geopolitical partners and diplomatic goals, and its willingness to engage its Central Asian partners on a multitude of fronts.

Despite the receptiveness of the Central Asian governments, since the summit crises like Russia’s war in Ukraine, global inflation, food insecurity, and strategic concerns have overshadowed India’s ambitions to bridge the geopolitical divide with Central Asia. As evidenced by the recent NSA meeting between India and the Central Asian states, security remains the focal point of Indian-Central Asian relations, but India must forge links with this dynamic region via transit, trade, investment, and people-to-people connections in order to cement New Delhi as a reliable and long-lasting partner in Central Asia amid geopolitical challenges.

Read the full article from The Diplomat here.