India-Central Asia Summit

In news– Recently, the Indian Prime Minister held a virtual summit with five Central Asian countries.

About the summit-

This was the first engagement of its kind between India and the Central Asian countries at the level of leaders.
The virtual summit saw the participation of the five presidents — Kazakhstan’s Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Uzbekistan’s Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan’s Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow and Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyz Republic.

- To make it clear that cooperation between India and Central Asia is essential for regional security and prosperity.
- To give an effective structure to our cooperation, which will establish a framework of regular interactions at different levels and among various stakeholders.
- To create an ambitious roadmap for our cooperation.
During the summit, the PM called for an integrated approach for regional connectivity and cooperation for the next 30 years.
India and five Central Asian countries have decided to establish a joint working group on Afghanistan at the senior officials’ level.
It was decided that leaders of India and Central Asian countries would hold a summit-level meeting every two years and the next summit is expected in 2024.
The leaders agreed that joint counter-terrorism exercises will be held between India and interesting Central Asian countries.
India, Central Asia to commission a dictionary of common words used in India and Central Asia countries and showcase a Buddhist exhibition in Central Asia.
The PM also announced a plan to build a “Central Asia Centre” in New Delhi.
The inception of the India-Central Asia Dialogue at Foreign Ministers’ level, the third meeting of which was held in New Delhi from December 18-20, 2021, has provided an impetus to India-Central Asia relations.
China held a similar summit with the leaders of Central Asian countries on January 25, at a very short notice, after India had announced its summit.