Share this
India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are all ready to host the first-ever central Asia summit on Thursday. India is said to strengthen their ties with central Asian countries of the world through the initiative of the summit.
The summit will be attended virtually by the Presidents of the state of central Asian countries. These countries include Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
The expected main issue to be addressed in the summit is neither the issue of security nor the issue of Afghanistan instead the issue to be addressed is trade and connectivity development partnership, culture, and contacts of people ties.
The Ministry of External Affairs(MEA) said in a press conference that the summit will be the first of its kind between India and Central Asian countries including the leaders of the following countries. The summit is a reflection of India’s efforts to grow ties of engagement with Central Asian Countries. The summit is a part of India’s Extended Neighborhood program, MEA added.
It is not the first time that India has extended their hand to the central Asian countries. In 2015 Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a visit to these countries to strengthen the bilateral and multilateral relations at different forums. The participatory effort by the secretaries of the National Security Councils of Central Asian countries on the issue of Afghanistan in New Delhi helped in outlining the regional relations with Afghanistan.
India has built relations with some of these nations individually as well like the troops of Kazakhstan participating as part of the Indian UN Peacekeeping battalion in Lebanon. Kyrgyz presidents have visited India six times while Narendra Modi has gone to Bishkek twice, India has set up five telemedicine centers. Tajikistan shares ethnicity with Panjshir Valley.
It is expected that the summit will help grow better relations with these Central Asian countries.