India may host Central Asia foreign Ministers next week

India is expected to host foreign ministers of all five Central Asian countries together for the first time on August 28-29, taking forward its engagement with the region weeks after external affairs minister S Jaishankar represented the country at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Kazakhstan. The meeting could lead to the IndiaCentral Asia leadership summit, something that was originally planned to coincide with the 2022 Republic Day celebrations, said people with knowledge of the matter.

The upcoming meeting will focus on effective counterterrorism mechanisms and inclusive connectivity corridors in Eurasia, with a special emphasis on the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and Chabahar Port, the people said. Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have started sending consignments to India via INSTC and Chabahar Port. India will also seek to procure natural resources, including critical minerals.

The country will look at expanding defence ties with the region, building on the goodwill and legacy from the Soviet Union period, said experts on India and Central Asia.


They said concerns are rising in India, Central Asia as well as Russia over the expanding extremist networks in pockets of Central Asia with roots in the Af-Pak region. Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan have cracked down on terrorist cells in the past few months.

The joint declaration issued at the end of SCO summit in Astana in July highlighted shared concerns about terrorism and cross-border terrorism and spoke about territorial integrity with references to connectivity corridors (alluding to the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor).

Jaishankar told ET then that it was the first time that the grouping had used such robust language for references to terrorism. “I am happy that Kazakhstan during their chairmanship negotiated an updated programme to combat terrorism, separatism and extremism, which was adopted in the Astana Summit,” he said at the time.