Roundup: The 4th meeting of the India-Central Asia Dialogue

Explainer

By Angana Guha Roy

The 4th meeting of the India-Central Asia Dialogue was held in New Delhi on 6 June 2025. The meeting was attended by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan took part in the meeting. The dialogue focused on a range of topics and marked another step towards building a forward-looking, comprehensive and enduring India-Central Asia partnership.

India continues to endorse the importance of Central Asia through its renewed outreach policy towards the region, called the Connect Central Asia Policy. Given the depth of historical ties, geographical proximity, and vast mineral resources, the region has evolved as a crucial area for trade, energy transit, and security considerations, drawing the attention of major global powers. As strategic neighbours, India and Central Asia seek to enhance regional peace, security, stability, sustainable economic growth and continued prosperity in the region, the joint statement cited. Tactically, Central Asia is also important for India’s Afghanistan outreach strategy, given that Uzbekistan has taken on a leadership role in the region and made Afghanistan the centrepiece of its connectivity projects with South Asia, which might open new prospects for India’s Chabahar Port. The ministers agreed to continue close coordination and consultations on matters related to Afghanistan during the meeting.

The high-level India-Central Asia dialogue has emphasized the need for deeper regional cooperation across various sectors, reflecting the current security dynamics of the region. Recently, Kazakhstani President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev highlighted the dangers of rising protectionism at the Astana International Forum. He advocated for “unity in diversity” as a way to promote regional collaboration, good governance, and inclusive development. Ultimately, the power of unity is vital for tackling common challenges and aligning shared interests.

Central Asia has a complex and challenging water security issue driven by unequal distribution of water resources across the region, interstate tensions, the legacy of Soviet-era water management systems, corruption, and, most importantly, the effects of climate change. The collapse of the Aral Sea, the declining water levels of the Caspian Sea, border conflicts over water access between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and the Taliban’s construction of a controversial canal in Afghanistan have added to the difficulties. Challenges also offer opportunities, including regional agreements on sharing and protecting bodies of water, applying new water-management technologies, and using newly arid lands for new projects.

India follows a policy-driven approach in order to address its water security challenges. In the recent past, policy initiatives like National Water Policy, Jal Jeevan Mission, and Jal Shakti Abhiyan, focusing on sustainable management, conservation, and equitable access to water resources have added to the momentum. Additionally, technologies like smart water grids, rainwater harvesting, and wastewater treatment are being adopted to improve efficiency and address water scarcity. Close information, insight, and technical know-how sharing can be pursued on segments of common water security challenges.

Terrorism, being a common challenge, drew attention to the dialogue agenda. The Ministers unequivocally condemned the terrorist attack in Pahalgham. The joint statement noted the importance of holding regular consultations among the National Security Councils of India and the Central Asian countries to strengthen efforts to counter terrorism and other emerging challenges in the region. The third edition of the Consultations is slated to be held in the Kyrgyz Republic.

The other areas of discussion included trade, energy, security, and emerging technologies. India’s trade volume remains low with Central Asian countries. Despite demonstrated political willingness, India and Central Asia's trade volume hasn’t witnessed substantial progress, with bilateral trade volume level around $2 billion in 2022-23. Connectivity, trade, and energy security remain important motivators for trade.

Central Asian countries are actively engaged in improving the region’s physical and digital networks. Chinese private enterprises are engaged in broadening their business engagement in Central Asia in the power and infrastructure sector.  Apart from China, the European Union and International Organizations like the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, and the OECD are actively involved in funding infrastructure and connectivity activities in these countries.

India having a development-centric focus, has stepped up its engagement in the connectivity and infrastructure sector in Central Asian countries. Initiatives like the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and Chabahar port are key components of this strategy. India also offers digital public infrastructure (DPI) solutions to Central Asian nations. The joint statement released following the 4th India Central Asia Dialogue mentioned that connectivity initiatives should be based on the principles of transparency, broad participation, local priorities, financial sustainability, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries. The joint dialogue resolved to focus on other vectors too fundamental to connectivity, including technology, health, and education.

Over the years, the India-Central Asia Dialogue has emerged as a platform for cultivating multifaceted cooperation while addressing common challenges and interests.  The expanding engagement across key sectors like trade, business, capacity building, human resource development, science and technology, space, research & innovation, and energy can be structurally steered forward through platforms like  India-Central Asia Business Council (ICABC), Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme, India-Central Asia Rare Earth Forum, India-Central Asia Digital Partnership Forum, and  India’s Global South Centre of Excellence "DAKSHIN” (Development and Knowledge Sharing Initiative).

India and Central Asia have the unique opportunity to build on the longstanding civilizational, cultural, and people-to-people linkages. India’s longstanding practice of employing soft power strategies has helped it in promoting Indian culture, bollywood, yoga, and traditional arts in Central Asia. Further educational initiatives, student exchanges, and multifarious track-level dialogues have helped it in enhancing people-to-people dialogue.

The second Central Asia Summit in 2025 opens possibilities of taking broader ranges of discussions further.

Disclaimer: This paper is the author's individual scholastic contribution and does not necessarily reflect the organization's viewpoint.