First India-Central Asia summit

First India-Central Asia summit

Part of: Prelims and GS-II -International relations 

Context: Indian Prime Minister will hold the first India-Central Asia summit, in a videoconference with five Presidents from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Key takeaways

• The major areas of focus would be:
  • trade and connectivity
  • building development partnerships 
  • enhancing cultural and people-to-people contacts,
• A number of global and regional developments will also form a large part of the discussions.
• Ways to increase trade between India and the region may also be proposed.
• India hopes to build on its trilateral working group on Chabahar with Iran and Uzbekistan to strengthen connectivity to the region.

Central Asia

• Central Asia is a region in Asia which stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north
• It includes the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan
• All five nations became independent states after the collapse of the USSR in 1991, post-Cold war.

News Source: TH