Why in news?

PM Modi is on a Central Asia trip. He will visit Uzbekistan from August 29-30 on a bilateral visit, followed by the Kyrgyz Republic to attend the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit from August 31 to September 1.

India's focused engagement with the region's five countries — Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan — began in 2012, with the framing of the "Connect Central Asia" policy.

The policy gained momentum when Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit all five Central Asian nations in July 2015. This latest visit continues that outreach.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• What Central Asia Offers?
• India's Strategic Stakes: The Battle for Space
• Key Challenges
• Civilisational and Cultural Links with Uzbekistan
• Conclusion

What Central Asia Offers?

• Central Asia has traditionally been viewed as Russia's strategic backyard, with a 20-30% ethnic Russian population and widespread use of the Russian language.
• The region's growing global significance was underscored when Chinese President Xi Jinping chose it for his first overseas trip after the COVID-19 pandemic disruption, visiting four of the five Central Asian countries in September 2022.
• The region is exceptionally rich in mineral and natural resources:
  • Kazakhstan: One of the world's largest uranium reserves, along with coal, lead, zinc, gold, and iron ore
  • Kyrgyz Republic: Gold and hydropower potential
  • Turkmenistan: One of the world's largest natural gas reserves
  • Tajikistan: Significant hydropower potential
  • Uzbekistan: Gold, uranium, and natural gas
• This resource wealth has drawn global powers seeking to tap into the region's vast potential.

India's Strategic Stakes: The Battle for Space

• For India, engagement with Central Asia serves multiple strategic objectives:
  • Security cooperation: Particularly important following the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan.
  • Countering China's influence: Balancing Beijing's expanding footprint through its Belt and Road Initiative.
  • Connectivity: Advancing plans like the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
  • Energy security: Leveraging Kazakhstan's uranium reserves and Turkmenistan's role in the proposed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline.
  • Historical and cultural ties: Building on centuries-old civilisational links.
  • Trade potential: Expanding economic partnerships.
• India regards Central Asia as part of its extended neighbourhood, with outreach aimed at securing political, security, and economic benefits.
• A notable diplomatic gesture came in January 2022, when New Delhi invited Central Asian leaders to its Republic Day celebrations.
• India's engagement is partly driven by a desire to prevent China from dominating this post-Soviet space through its substantial regional investments.

Key Challenges

• Despite the clear economic opportunities from Central Asia's mineral wealth, India faces a significant hurdle: the lack of direct overland transport access, since Pakistan blocks India's land route to the region.
• This challenge is a primary driver behind India's push to integrate the INSTC with Iran's Chabahar port, creating an alternative access route to this resource-rich region.
• Security concerns also loom large. Central Asia is widely seen as the northern boundary of the Islamic world, and the Taliban's ascent in Afghanistan has heightened fears of radicalism and a potential regrouping of the Islamic State — posing risks not just for India but for the Central Asian states themselves.
• Additionally, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has triggered demographic shifts, with reports of skilled Russians relocating to Central Asian countries since they cannot easily move westward.
• While this migration could boost local economies through an inflow of talent and capital, it may also generate social and political tensions within these nations.

Civilisational and Cultural Links with Uzbekistan

• India shares a particularly deep cultural and civilisational connection with Uzbekistan.
• Notably, the only known Buddhist monastery in Central Asia is located at Kara Tepa, Termez, Uzbekistan — an important centre during the Kushana era, when Buddhist influence extended into the region.
• Linguistic ties run deep as well, with nearly 3,000 shared words between Hindi and Uzbek.
• Cultural parallels extend to cuisine too — ghee-sariyok, samosa-samsa, naan-non, and pulao-pilaf reflect shared culinary heritage.
• Economically, India ranks among Uzbekistan's top 10 trading partners, with bilateral trade reaching close to $1 billion in 2025-26.

Conclusion

PM Modi's Central Asia visit reflects India's sustained strategic push to deepen ties with a region critical to its security, energy, and connectivity interests, while also countering growing Chinese influence in the post-Soviet space.

Despite persistent challenges — particularly the lack of direct overland access due to Pakistan and rising regional security risks from Afghanistan — India's civilisational links, economic potential, and multilateral engagement through platforms like the SCO position Central Asia as an increasingly vital pillar of its extended neighbourhood policy.