PM Modi to host first India-Central Asia Summit on January 27

After rising Covid-19 cases cancelled the visit of the leaders of five central Asian nations, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Wednesday said India will host the Presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan virtually. 

The summit will be held a day after Republic Day, which the five presidents were to attend as the chief guests.

Key Highlights

• The MEA added Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host the “first meeting of the India-Central Asia Summit, with the participation” of the five Presidents — Kazakhstan’s Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Uzbekistan’s Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Tajikistan’s Emomali Rahmon, Turkmenistan’s Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow and Kyrgyz Republic’s Sadyr Japarov — in a virtual format.
• This, the statement said, “will be the first engagement of its kind between India and the Central Asian countries at the level of leaders.”

• The meeting is significant given that three of these five nations — Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan — share boundaries with Afghanistan, where the takeover by the Taliban in August last year has left India concerned.

• Additionally, three of the five nations — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan — also share land boundaries with China, with which India is involved in an over 21-month long standoff in eastern Ladakh.

• The MEA also said that the first India-Central Asia Summit “is a reflection of India’s growing engagement with the Central Asian countries,” which are a part of India’s “Extended Neighbourhood”.

SOURCE: The Indian Express

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