Central Asia
VIF Roundtable on India-Central Asia Relations | Summary of Discussions

India-Central Asia relations gained momentum in the recent past with Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the five Central Asian Republics in 2015 and India’s permanent membership to Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in 2017. During Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Central Asia, several Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) and Agreements were signed. The high-level exchange of visits between India and Central Asia has raised their bilateral relation profile. India is also contributing to the annual SCO Summits by suggesting a number of concrete ideas.

Russian, Chinese and American interplay in Central Asia and Afghanistan

India’s Interest in Central Asia In the evolving dynamics of the global order in the twenty first century there has been a fundamental shift in International Politics from Europe to Asia, and particularly to the huge Eurasian landmass. In this changing dynamics, British geographer Halford Mackinder’s theory of geopolitics has regained a new and a powerful currency. According to Mackinder, Central Asia is the ‘pivot of history’, and the huge swathe of landmass is the “Heartlands of Eurasia”. In his view whosoever ‘controls the heartlands of Eurasia, controls the world’.

ISIS and Radicalization in the Central Asian Republics

The pristine Hanafi school of Islam that prevails in the Central Asia is under severe threat of being displaced by a highly intolerant and violent version of Islam adopted by the likes of the IS. Increasingly marked by poverty and radicalization, the region has thus become a growing source of exported ‘jihadists’. While the damage is still limited, unless controlled with a heavy hand, the societal destruction in the name of Islam may reach a point of no return. This paper reviews this issue from various perspectives.

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