Ramakrushna Pradhan, Tarakanta Biswal
Central
Asia constituting five independent Republics such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan is India’s proximate neighbour. Their
re-emergence into the Asian geopolitics not just changed the political
geography of the region but also presented several issues of both interest and
concern for its neighbours. India being the largest neighbour of Central Asia
in South Asia like other neighbours too have certain geopolitical and
geo-economics interests to materialise in the region. Since India is aspiring
for a major power role in the International System, New Delhi as of now cannot
leapfrog to the global high table without demonstrating effective initiative at
the regional level – Central Asia is an important regional constituent. It is
in this context, this article makes a modest attempt to examine India’s
interests in the region and evaluate the challenges it has been facing in
actualising them.
India,
Central Asia, Geopolitics, Geo-economics, Energy, Security, SCO.
VOL.13, ISSUE No.3, September 2021